Nghe An is ready for regional defense and civil defense drills in 2022

PV:First, could you please tell us about the plan for the 2022 regional defense and civil defense exercises in Nghe An?

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Dai Nghia:The drills on defense zones and civil defense are extremely important to consolidate and raise awareness among Party committees, authorities and people about the tasks of building and operating in defense zones, building a national defense foundation associated with an increasingly solid people's security posture, meeting the requirements of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation. At the same time, improve the capacity and command of the Civil Defense - Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue Command Committees at all levels; train and improve the ability to organize and perform tasks of forces in responding to fire, explosion and toxic chemical incidents, contributing to improving quality and combat readiness.

In 2022, Nghe An was assigned by the Ministry of National Defense and Military Region 4 to organize defense area drills and civil defense drills; based on the drill directive of the Military Region Commander, the Provincial Drill Steering Committee determined the drill plan with the following main contents:

For regional defense exercises, it is carried out in 3 phases: Phase 1: Moving armed forces into combat readiness states, moving localities into defense states; Phase 2: Organizing preparations for defensive operations; Phase 3: Practicing defensive operations.

In which, the mechanism operation part includes 15 meetings, including 6 meetings of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Council; 5 meetings of the Provincial People's Committee; 2 meetings of the Military; 1 meeting of the Provincial Police and 1 meeting of the Provincial Border Guard. The provincial-level live-fire exercise includes 3 contents, the district-level includes 5 contents.

For the civil defense drill, the mechanism operation part includes 1 meeting of the Provincial Civil Defense Command, 1 meeting of the Cua Lo Town Civil Defense Command; The practical part includes the content of responding to disasters of fire, explosion, toxic chemicals in apartment buildings and the content of establishing a level 2 field hospital of the province.

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Dai Nghia during an inspection of preparations for the exercise. Photo: TH

PV:What's new in this year's exercise plan compared to previous years, Colonel?

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Dai Nghia:Implementing the viewpoint of the Party, State, Ministry of National Defense, Military Region 4, which is to regularly innovate the content and methods in training and exercises, therefore, the Nghe An province defense area exercise in 2022 has innovations in the organization, preparation and practice of exercises compared to previous years.

This exercise carries out the steps to change the combat readiness status of the armed forces, organizes the exercise before recording and presenting.

Unlike previous years, in 2022, the Military Region directed the provincial and district defense area exercises, each locality selected 2-3 units representing the Party and government to mobilize all department-level cadres and specialists to participate in the exercise. This is the first time this content has been implemented. In 2022, for the provincial level, the Provincial Exercise Steering Committee selected the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee and the Department of Transport.

Regarding the live-fire drills, in 2009 Nghe An conducted live-fire drills to retake part of the lost Ngu Island; in 2017, Nghe An conducted live-fire drills against the enemy landing by sea; this year, the Military Region assigned Nghe An to coordinate with the 324th Division and the Brigades of the Military Region to organize live-fire drills against the enemy landing by air. This is also a new content in the defense area drills in Nghe An.

For civil defense drills, this is a difficult content, with a large number of forces, vehicles, and large amount of facilities. And this is also the first time Nghe An has organized a drill, with little practical experience, so there are certain difficulties in preparing and conducting the drill.

Checking the preparation for the defense area drill and civil defense drill of Nghe An province in 2022. Photo: TH

PV:How far are the preparations, Colonel?

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Dai Nghia:Identifying the defense zone drill and civil defense drill as the key task of the year and the entire term, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee has fully and deeply grasped the Military Region Commander's Exercise Directive, and leaders of agencies, units and localities have proactively deployed the contents as planned, ensuring quality and synchronization. In particular, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Military Command has made efforts, proactively and actively done a good job of advising and preparing for the defense zone drill and civil defense drill.

Up to now, a complete system of leadership and direction documents for the exercise tasks has been issued; 13 meetings have been organized to thoroughly grasp and deploy the exercise tasks; the full scripts for the conferences to operate the mechanism have been drafted; at the same time, the construction of Command Centers at all levels has been deployed to ensure the right progress; for the basic contents of the exercise, scenarios and plans for the 2 exercises have been developed through the Military Region Exercise Steering Committee, and by mid-August, the exercise will begin.

Checking at the field area in Cua Lo town. Photo: TH

PV:So, were there any difficulties or problems in the preparation?

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Dai Nghia:Defense zone drills and civil defense drills are the highest form of comprehensive training in applying the Party's viewpoints, policies, laws of the State and principles in the leadership activities of Party committees, administration of the government, advisory roles and implementation organization of agencies, departments, branches and organizations in the field of defense and security of defense zones and civil defense; therefore, preparation work must be carried out carefully, meticulously and synchronously from the province to the grassroots level.

Although in the past time, the preparation for the exercise mission has always received the attention, direction and support of the Command and the Military Region agencies, however, it has also encountered certain difficulties. That is the complicated situation of the Covid-19 epidemic. It is necessary to deploy many tasks and 2 exercises at the same time. There is not much experience in organizing civil defense exercises at the provincial level. At the same time, it is also difficult to arrange land funds to build Command Headquarters in some localities (Vinh City, Cua Lo Town) and the province's field training area; ensuring funding for the exercise mission is still difficult.

Checking the A2 Field Practice Area at the Traffic Police Department Headquarters, Nghe An Provincial Police. Photo: TH

PV:Colonel, could you tell us a little about the key tasks in the coming time?

Lieutenant Colonel Phan Dai Nghia:To complete the task of practicing defense zones and civil defense in the coming time, we have determined that we need to perform well a number of key tasks as follows:

Continue to do a good job of disseminating and implementing the tasks of defense zone drills and civil defense drills, identifying this as a key political task in 2022 and throughout the term.

Closely coordinate with Division 324, military units of the Military Region, Coast Guard Region 1, and Navy Region 1 to complete the scenario plan for the provincial-level field exercises through the Military Region Steering Committee as intended; on that basis, arrange battlefield equipment, prepare the field exercise area, organize training, and practice the contents according to plan.

Organize training to improve drill knowledge for drill frameworks at all levels; at the same time, direct agencies, units, and localities to complete the system of drill documents, scenarios, and practical plans according to regulations, proactively study documents, review, practice, and rehearse the contents.

PV:Thank you, Colonel!