General Secretary and President attends the opening ceremony of the 2024-2025 school year at the National Defense Academy

Also attending the ceremony were General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Minister of National Defense; Party Central Committee members: Le Khanh Hai, Head of the Office of the President; Nguyen Kim Son, Minister of Education and Training; Hoang Dang Quang, Deputy Head of the Central Organizing Committee; Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Central Party Office; Senior Lieutenant General Tran Viet Khoa, Director of the National Defense Academy.

After more than 47 years of construction, development and growth, the National Defense Academy has played an important role in implementing the Party's guidelines, policies and viewpoints, the State's policies and laws, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defense; training and fostering cadres; providing strategic advice on national defense, security, military, army building, economic, cultural and social development associated with national defense and security, building and protecting the Fatherland in the new situation...

In the 2024-2025 school year, the Academy will make a breakthrough in fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training, develop high-quality human resources, attract and promote talents, especially in training campaign-level and strategic cadres, foster national defense and security knowledge for senior cadres under the Central Government's management; determined to take the lead in implementing the policy "The quality of training of the school is the combat readiness of the unit" of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense. At the same time, it will organize the emulation congress for the period of 2019-2024 well, creating high motivation for all cadres, lecturers, students, employees and soldiers to strive to excellently complete their tasks.

Over the past 5 years, the Academy has continuously achieved the title of a comprehensive, exemplary, and typical strong unit, a leading unit in the army's emulation movement to win, and has been awarded the First Class Fatherland Protection Medal by the Party and State and many other noble awards.

Speaking at the ceremony, the General Secretary and President stated that building and defending the Fatherland are two strategic, continuous tasks of our country's revolution, in which defending the Fatherland is an important condition and premise to create a peaceful and stable environment for rapid and sustainable national development. Over the past years, under the leadership of the Party, the participation of the entire political system, the entire people and the entire army, our Fatherland has been firmly protected from early on, from afar, following the motto "protecting the country when it is not yet in danger".

The image of a peaceful and stable Vietnam, with the material and spiritual life of its people constantly improving and enhancing, and actively contributing to maintaining peace in the world, has become a strong source of inspiration for many countries, a resource for national development in the new era, contributing to strongly attracting foreign investment and tourists, enhancing the prestige and position of Vietnam in the international arena. The revolutionary armed forces have been built to be compact, strong, disciplined, elite, and modern, meeting the increasingly high requirements and tasks in the new situation.

Congratulating and praising the achievements and efforts of the cadres, lecturers, students, staff and soldiers of the National Defense Academy in recent years, the General Secretary and President emphasized that the great results in protecting the Fatherland have important contributions from the National Defense Academy.

Over the years, performing the role of the leading center for education, training, scientific research, and international cooperation of the army and the country, the Academy has always seriously grasped and effectively implemented the Party's guidelines, policies, and viewpoints, the State's policies and laws, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defense, and done a good job of strategic consulting on military, national defense, security, and army building.

Pointing out that the world is in a period of epochal change, and that there are factors in the country that can cause mutations, the General Secretary and President emphasized that this context places increasingly high demands on the task of protecting the Fatherland, requiring correct awareness and good resolution of relationships between partners and subjects.

At the same time, we must have a correct understanding of policies and strategic solutions to push back challenges, seize opportunities, move towards mastering space, deepening research into mastering water surfaces, oceans, and seabeds, researching and developing air defense and air force, mastering airspace, handling well unmanned aerial vehicles in the air, at sea, seabed robots, and defense robots in mountainous areas...

Along with that is the development of military art, not only to firmly protect the Fatherland from early on, from afar, to defend the country when it is not yet in danger, but also to make the most of opportunities, turning challenges into opportunities, constantly strengthening national defense potential, increasing Vietnam's contribution to peace and stability in the region and the world.

In response to the requirements and tasks of protecting the Fatherland and building a lean, compact, and strong military force that is disciplined, elite, and modern by 2030, the General Secretary and President requested the Academy to thoroughly grasp and effectively implement the Party's policies and viewpoints on comprehensive fundamental innovation of education and training associated with protecting the Fatherland in the new situation, contributing to improving the quality of cadres of the Party, State, and armed forces in the new period.

In particular, the Academy must clearly demonstrate its role as a leading unit in implementing the Party's directives, resolutions, and conclusions on innovation in education, training, military, national defense, and security; continue to strongly innovate programs, content, training methods, and school management in a scientific and modern direction. Training content must be close to the national defense and security tasks of the country and the development of the army; be profound in theory, rich in practice, update and supplement theoretical knowledge, new information on modern military science, especially theory and practice on defending the Fatherland in the new situation, suitable for the target of combat and the practice of war-waging methods in the world today.

At the same time, focus on digital transformation, management, big data exploitation, digital education development, smart education, creativity, adapting to the development of artificial intelligence, building digital academies, smart academies. Strive to build the Academy into the leading center for military science research and military arts in the region.

Quoting Lenin's affirmation "Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement" and President Ho Chi Minh's advice that "A Party without a guiding theory is like a person without intelligence, a ship without a compass", the General Secretary and President emphasized that in the context of the internal and external situation with many new challenges to national defense, it is necessary to summarize practices, study theory, and promptly answer new and difficult issues that are urgent. To achieve the goal of defending the Fatherland in the new situation, firmly from early on, from afar, from new spaces, to consolidate national defense potential, and increase Vietnam's contribution to peace and stability in the region and the world, revolutionary theory is the research result of the Academy, which plays a particularly important role.

In addition, it is necessary to continuously expand military diplomacy and international cooperation of the Academy with academies, military universities, defense and security research institutes of countries around the world to absorb human experience and wisdom in perfecting the military art of the new era.

Along with that, the General Secretary and President requested the Academy to do a good job in Party building, to be truly clean and strong; to build a team of cadres, lecturers, and leading scientists who are shining examples of political courage, moral qualities, good professional expertise, profound strategic thinking, intelligence and practical capacity to meet the requirements of the task; to focus on building an advanced and exemplary cultural and pedagogical environment, resolutely not allowing negative manifestations to penetrate the Academy. Actively participate in the struggle on the ideological and theoretical front, contributing to firmly protecting the Party's ideological foundation, fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints.

For the students, the General Secretary and President suggested that they should be fully aware of the increasingly high requirements for thinking, vision, mettle, qualities, and abilities of Party, State, and armed forces officials in the new development stage of the country; clearly see the honor, pride, and great responsibility when studying, researching, and training at the National Defense Academy. From there, make the most of the precious time to continuously accumulate and develop qualities and abilities; after graduation, promote and creatively apply the knowledge learned in each working position to actively contribute to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

The General Secretary and President affirmed that the Party and State will continue to pay attention to leadership, direction, and create favorable conditions for the Academy to improve the quality and effectiveness of training, scientific research, and fostering national defense and security knowledge for senior officials; and invest in building the National Defense Academy into a modern center for training, scientific research on national defense and military on par with other countries in the region and the world.

With a glorious tradition of 47 years of construction, development and growth, with a team of cadres and lecturers with good professional qualifications, strong political will, enthusiasm, responsibility and high determination, the General Secretary and President believes that the National Defense Academy will continue to make important contributions to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland in the new period.