Towards the emulation congress of Nghe An province's armed forces for the period 2019 - 2024:The leader in the Engineering unit

Continuing the military career

Despite his busy work schedule, Major Phan Chi Thang (born in 1982) still took time out of his day to chat with us. He told us about his journey into the military: “My father joined the army, fought in the southern battlefield, and was a disabled veteran with 61% disability. When he returned home, his health declined. In his final years, he always expressed his wish that I would follow in his footsteps on the military path. Therefore, while studying at the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts, I decided to drop out of school and voluntarily apply to join the army.”

After training, in 2006, he was sent to a short-term command training course at the Engineering Officer School. A year later, he returned to take up his duties at the 17th Engineering Company. He has now been with the unit for nearly 17 years.

Major Phan Chi Thang's unit is responsible for providing engineering services for the Provincial Military Command, training combat readiness, building combat structures, and handling bombs, mines, and explosives left over from the war.

During the implementation of the mission, the unit encountered many difficulties such as: Large workload, high intensity, continuous construction, rudimentary equipment, lack of resources. The basic mission area is mountainous and island areas, with harsh weather. Living conditions are difficult, electricity and water are scarce, lacking in all aspects; the number of troops is often dispersed, performing many tasks at the same time.

Faced with these difficulties, Major Phan Chi Thang and his teammates promoted solidarity, unity, initiative, creativity, daring to think and act to complete the task well.

Over the past 5 years, Major Phan Chi Thang and his unit have directly cleared and disposed of hundreds of bombs and mines and cleaned up thousands of hectares of land, ensuring safety for officers and soldiers on duty and the people.

To achieve that result, Major Phan Chi Thang is always proactive in studying, training to improve his qualifications, mastering the uses and structures of mines, and skillfully using mine detectors in his staff. In training, he pays attention to correcting each movement, closely applying theory and practice, training in order, style, and discipline so that the entire unit is ready to move and promptly carry out all tasks.

Spirit of overcoming difficulties

With the specific characteristics of constructing combat projects that must ensure absolute safety, secrecy, the highest quality and technique, on schedule, and handover according to plan, Major Phan Chi Thang and the officers and soldiers of Engineering Company 17 always uphold the spirit of overcoming difficulties and completing their tasks excellently.

Combat projects are often located in mountainous and island terrain, far from residential areas, making it very difficult to transport materials and construction machinery, basically relying on human power; living conditions for officers and soldiers at the construction site are very poor.

“I still remember the time when I was assigned to build a project with a heavy and dangerous workload, and with little experience, I spent many sleepless nights thinking about how to harmoniously combine discipline training and construction, from which I determined that I must truly be a leader in all my words and actions. It was those hardships and challenges that made the soldiers trust me more and clearly recognize the tasks of each individual in the work,” Major Phan Chi Thang shared.

To ensure the completion of the mission as well as to maintain the health of the soldiers during the work, Major Phan Chi Thang has promoted ideas and initiatives during the working process. The initiatives have been applied very effectively in construction, notably the initiative "Cable winch system for transporting materials, material lifting system on the wharf, machine lifting price in repairing technical equipment and motorbikes".

During the construction of the combat project on Mat Island, due to the difficulty in transporting materials and equipment due to the steep and rugged terrain, Major Phan Chi Thang had the initiative to use cable winches to free up the labor of the soldiers, speeding up the construction progress. Thanks to that, the construction time was shortened by 3 months, saving a lot of costs and effort for the officers and soldiers.

During the acceptance and handover process, the unit has always received high appreciation from leaders at all levels for the technical and aesthetic qualities of the project and put it into use promptly and effectively. Currently, the unit is carrying out the task of constructing training and combat facilities in a number of locations in accordance with the Ministry of National Defense's regulations on construction of combat facilities, ensuring safety, quality, and absolute confidentiality of the project.

With his achievements, Major Phan Chi Thang has been recognized by his superiors with many titles, notably the Certificate of Merit from the Minister of National Defense, Military Region 4, Nghe An Provincial Party Committee and the Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee.

Captain Nguyen Tuan Minh - Deputy Commander of Engineering Company 17 said: "Comrade Phan Chi Thang has many years of experience, solid professional qualifications, and many initiatives that bring practical results. At the same time, he always upholds the spirit of responsibility in work, is exemplary in life, and is a shining example for officers and soldiers in the unit."