Reorganizing local military forces to meet the requirements of the new situation.

Attending the conference were President Luong Cuong; Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; members of the Politburo and Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Party: Le Minh Hung - Head of the Central Organization Department; Nguyen Trong Nghia, Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department; Nguyen Duy Ngoc - Chairman of the Central Inspection Committee; Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Party: Tran Luu Quang - Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Department; Le Hoai Trung - Chief of the Central Party Office; members of the Central Committee of the Party, leaders of Party departments, leaders of the Ministry of National Defense, heads of functional agencies and units under the Ministry...

At the conference, delegates heard a report on the content of the Project on organizing local military forces to be "lean, efficient, and strong" to meet the requirements of the new situation. Accordingly, in implementing the resolutions and conclusions of the Central Committee and the Politburo on continuing to reorganize and streamline the organizational structure of the political system, reorganize administrative units at all levels, and build a two-tiered local government, the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense directed the development of the Project and held numerous meetings to provide feedback and finalize the Project before reporting it to the Central Military Commission.

With a sense of urgency, seriousness, scientific rigor, caution, and certainty, the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense proactively directed and assigned tasks to agencies and units to research and propose plans for organizing local military units when reducing administrative units at the provincial and commune levels, and abolishing the district level. The research and proposed plans must stem from the practical realities of national defense in the current situation; the strategic directives of the Party and State on military and national defense; inheriting the essence of military art, the historical traditions of building military forces and fighting to defend the country; and the realities of wars and conflicts in the world and the region, especially the new developments in the forms and methods of warfare in recent times.

After listening to the delegates' discussions and comments on the Project, General Secretary To Lam assessed that the Project meets the requirements of the tasks in the new situation, is consistent with the strategies on military and national defense, and the military and national defense guidelines. The General Secretary stated that, in terms of perspective, the Project upholds the principle of absolute and direct Party leadership over the Vietnam People's Army in all aspects, regularly and directly by the Politburo and the Secretariat; inheriting the viewpoints and organization of the Vietnam People's Army as defined in the Party's resolutions and conclusions, ensuring that the Army is truly the core force in firmly defending the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam.

The General Secretary proposed that, based on the results of implementing the resolutions and conclusions of the Politburo, local military organizations and Border Guard units should continue to be reorganized in accordance with the Party and State's policies, ensuring they are "lean, efficient, and strong," effective, and efficient, reducing intermediate layers, and truly serving as the core in building and implementing the national defense and people's war strategy, and firmly protecting national sovereignty and border security. The adjustment process must be cautious, thorough, scientific, and consistent with the specific characteristics, functions, tasks, and organizational structure of the Army; selectively inheriting the experience of organizing local military agencies and provincial Border Guard units from various periods and historical traditions, in line with their functions and tasks, successfully fulfilling their duties in peacetime, and being ready to expand forces and successfully complete all tasks.

In principle, the General Secretary requested that the reorganization be carried out in accordance with the general policies of the Party and the State; the Provincial Military Commands and Provincial Border Guard Commands should be reorganized according to the provinces being merged. The adjustment process should be comprehensive, synchronized, and consistent with the national defense guidelines, people's war strategy, the strategy for protecting the Fatherland, and the strategy for protecting national borders; ensuring unified command in building a continuous and solid defense zone, maintaining stability; and after the adjustment, ensuring better fulfillment of assigned functions and tasks.

Regarding objectives, the General Secretary emphasized the need to continue reorganizing local military forces and border guards in accordance with the system and the principles of national defense and people's war; to build truly revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern local military organizations and provincial border guards with a rational organizational structure, suitable to the requirements of national defense in the new situation; and to be the core force in building a national defense posture linked to a people's security posture, building a comprehensive regional defense potential, and firmly protecting the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam.

On behalf of the Central Military Commission, the General Secretary instructed the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission to incorporate the conclusions of the Central Military Commission, direct the completion of the Project, and submit it to the Politburo for consideration and decision; and to direct the drafting of a Resolution of the Central Military Commission to guide the implementation of the Project after its approval by the Politburo. Simultaneously, the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission directed relevant agencies to research and adjust the people's war art, regional defense operations, and training materials to suit the new organizational structure; directed agencies to research and propose amendments and additions to the system of legal documents related to the military and national defense fields; and directed further research on the organization of the commune/ward Military Command to suit the scale of the commune-level administrative unit, local national defense and military tasks, and current socio-economic development conditions.