The image of farmers in naval uniforms suffering numerous hardships in duty and life has become a thing of the past; replaced by the image of a force that is more modern, stronger, more beautiful and more attractive, said Major General, Rear Admiral Nguyen Van Ninh.

Since its establishment 58 years ago, the Vietnam Navy has developed continuously to become a powerful force that directly protects the country’s sea territories, islands and continental shelf, the Deputy Commander of the Navy told Tuoi Tre while reviewing the long period in which the force has existed.

On May 7, 1954, the Vietnam Navy was set up and suffered numerous difficulties in terms of human resources, finance and weapons. Over time, the Navy has gradually developed and today it has a staff that has been standardized in both quantity and quality, since people are always considered the key factor in building a modern navy, he said.

“Besides, weapons and technical equipment have been invested in sufficiently to ensure the force’s fighting capability. Today, the Navy has been equipped with advanced facilities such as Kilo submarines, missile escort frigates, missile boats, advanced radar and communication systems, modern weapons and equipment for marines, and many kinds of other weapons that are mobile, accurate, and more durable in the water environment,” according to Admiral Ninh.

In addition, many infrastructure facilities such as barracks, training centers, factories, military ports, drill grounds, and convalescent areas have also been built and expanded to meet the need of development of the Navy, he said.

The Rear Admiral also answered some questions from Tuoi Tre.

Advanced weapons are essential, but the most important asset is humans. Recently, Admiral Nguyen Van Hien, Deputy Minister of Defense, told media that some military universities have reduced the total qualification marks in entrance examinations to 15, but it is still hard to recruit young talent. What do you have to say about that?

It is true that today young men are no longer as eager to enroll in military schools as in the past, when our commander, Nguyen Van Hien, had graduated from the Soviet Union Naval Academy with a gold medal for gaining the highest possible scores during his training course. 

However, with determination towards building up a powerful naval force, we have launched projects for human resources development, through which we select candidates qualified not only in knowledge, but also in health and psychology.

Qualified candidates will be trained first in Vietnam and then in foreign countries, such as the UK, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, India, and Belarus.

We have been allowed to recruit new soldiers among students at military universities and, in the future, among student at other universities. However, all candidates must be volunteers.

Has the Navy been allowed to create incentive policies to attract talent to its force?

All soldiers assigned to new units to operate advanced weapons or equipment are volunteers and the Government has issued a decree on incentives for those specials units, in terms of salary, allowance, housing and service terms.

Functional agencies are building public houses for all naval officers so that they do not have to worry about accommodation for themselves and their families, and thereby will focus all their efforts on their services.

Naval officers and soldiers working on submarines now enjoy new high salaries. I think that VND35 million (US$1,680) per month for a naval lieutenant and VND55 million for a colonel working in a submarine is enough for them to support their family and dedicate more and more time and effort to the Navy.

Are you worried that such high incentives for naval officers may make them indulge in pleasures instead of continuing to devote themselves to the Navy? 

The current living conditions of our people, including soldiers, are much higher than those in the past, but traditionally, the love for the fatherland of Vietnamese people in general, and soldiers in particular, remains unchanged.

Whenever the fatherland needs to be protected, nobody avoids their obligation to contribute to this protection. So do naval soldiers, who, despite living in well-furnished houses, will always be ready to take on missions at sea when necessary. And in that case, their leaders must be the ones who take a lead in those missions. In practice, this has happened.

If tomorrow, for example, there were to be a big problem at sea, then the Navy Commander, the Political Commissar, and I would immediately come to the scene to handle it. As would other high-ranking officers.

Despite how much the life of naval soldiers has changed and how much the values of life have changed, the love for the fatherland of naval soldiers and the comradeship among them will never change.

Source: Tuoi Tre