PANO - Over the past 70 years building up force, fighting enemies and growing up in all respects, the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) under the leadership of the Vietnam Communist Party has experienced historical glorious periods. VPA together with the whole nation succeeded in conducting the General Uprising in August 1945; achieved a number of landslide victories in the resistance wars against French and American invaders; wiped out the enemy from the national Southwest border and fulfilled the nation’s international duty, helping the Cambodians escape from the genocide regime of Pol Pot and Ieng Sari; and defeated the attempt of invading our country in the Northern border, firmly protecting the Fatherland of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

To successfully fulfill the noble mission, VPA is required to make more effort

Today, the national development and defense cause of the whole Party, people and army is executed in a complex global context containing alternative factors and unpredictable challenges. The Asia-Pacific region continues to develop in a dynamic manner but also holds destabilizing factors, strategic competition between major powers and territorial disputes over seas and islands. Additionally, our country still faces the scheme “Peace evolution” of foreign hostile forces aiming to ignite riot and overturn, and plots and activities of international and domestic hostile forces under the label of “democracy”, “human rights”, “religions”, and “nationalism” to undermine the central and local governments, leading to a change in the political system in Vietnam.

The international and domestic situations require the country to further heighten the mission of protecting the Fatherland. Protecting the Fatherland of Vietnam means firmly protecting independence, sovereign, unity, territorial integrity, the Party, the State, the people and socialism. At the same time, the whole party, army and people should also maintain peace and political stability for national socio-economic development. In the mission of protecting the Fatherland, the Vietnamese armed forces, particularly VPA, play a key role.

To successfully fulfill the noble mission, VPA is required to make more effort. First, it should keep in mind the Party’s policy, viewpoint, goals and principles on the Fatherland protection, which are all expressed in the Party resolutions and instructions, especially the 11th Party National Congress’s Resolution and the Resolution issued by the 8th Meeting of the Party Central Committee of the 11th tenure on the strategy to protect the Fatherland in the new context. At the same time, VPA should continue to build its force comprehensively strong, and improve its capabilities and combat readiness. In this process, VPA is to focus on building a revolutionary, regularized, battle-hardened and gradually modernized army.

Facts from the 70 years of VPA’s fighting for national liberation and protecting the Fatherland show that VPA has always been a revolutionary army, from the people, of the people and for the people. In the new complex context, VPA should further heighten its revolutionary traditions, national magnanimous history, learn the Ho Chi Minh thought, keep in mind the revolutionary ideal and its fighting goals, and frequently educate and improve political stance, virtues and abilities for all officers and soldiers. What is more, VPA should give timely and good advice and proposals on defense and military matters to the Party and State so that the Party and State could draw up good defense, military and security guidelines, policies, strategies and instructions. Next, VPA in coordination with local authorities should build a strong whole people’s defense posture in combination with the people’s security posture, continuously fortifying the defensive zones of cities and provinces. Finally, VPA should actively participate in the country’s foreign affairs by extending international integration, promoting good defense relations and cooperation with other countries, especially neighboring ones, creating a peaceful and stable environment for the country’s development.

All units and the army as a whole should enhance the management of troops, weapons and equipment

In the new context, VPA also has to improve the regularity. The concept of building a regularized army is broad. First, all military officers and soldiers should be united in terms of thought, will and action, which serves as a foundation to build a well organized army. Second, units should strengthen their command and leadership. Third, military training should be improved to reach higher quality across the army. Fourth, all units and the army as a whole should raise their capabilities and combat readiness and enhance the management of troops, weapons and equipment while strictly observing the military discipline and the laws.

Regarding an elite army, VPA ensures that all military personnel is first excellent at warfighting, and ready to fight and to defeat any enemy, firmly protecting the Fatherland, national sovereignty, territorial integrity and people. In addition, VPA should participate in national socio-economic development, national movements, social security and order, search and rescue, disaster prevention, local socio-economic development and hunger elimination and poverty reduction. Finally, VPA should regularly improve military and defense knowledge, abilities and skills for military personnel, especially officers at all levels.

To build a modern army, VPA is to focus on training and education. Agencies, schools and units should continuously renew training methods so that all military personnel is competent to master modern weapons and equipment and could well manipulate weapons and successfully apply appropriate tactics in real battlefields. Under VPA’s policy on modernizing the army, military personnel is considered is the key. As a result, in the coming time, VPA is to put an emphasis on augmenting the quality of military personnel. It also is to acquire modern weapons and equipment to arm its force. The policy also defines that in the modernization process, priority is given to Navy, air defense force, electronic operation, Signal Corps and electronic reconnaissance force with the aim of modernizing the five military services and arms in a short time. To this end, VPA is to invest in research, experiment and production of new weapons and equipment, and upgrade the existing weapons and equipment, in addition to purchasing them from foreign partners.

VPA is 70 years old. Although 70 years is not a long time for an army’s history, VPA has so far marked glorious victories, expelling the foreign invaders from the country, gaining national independence, freedom and unity in the past, firmly protecting the Fatherland, national sovereignty and territorial integrity at present. In response to the new context, VPA continues to follow its honorable heroic traditions to build a revolutionary, regularized, battle-hardened and gradually modern army.

Written by Duong Dinh Lap

Translated by Thu Nguyen