Throughout 80 years of building, fighting, triumphing, and growing, alongside maintaining its proletarian essence and profound national spirit, our Army has always affirmed, nurtured, and shone out its people-oriented nature, deserving to be the Army of the people, by the people, and for the people. This has formed a distinctive cultural value and the source of strength that enables cadres and soldiers to excellently accomplish every mission. This is an undeniable fact.

The Vietnam People’s Army was organised, led, educated, and trained by the Communist Party of Vietnam and Leader Ho Chi Minh. Throughout its 80 years of building, fighting, and growing, our Army has formed a glorious and heroic tradition: “Loyal to the Party, faithful to the people, ready to fight and sacrifice for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, for socialism. Any mission is accomplished, any difficulty is overcome, and any enemy is defeated”. This tradition not only deeply embodies the revolutionary essence of the proletariat and the national spirit but also profoundly reflects the people-oriented nature – a distinctive cultural value of an army that born from the people, always “ready to forget themself for the people, willing to sacrifice for the people, deserving the trust of the Party and the love of the people”.

The people-oriented nature of the Vietnam People’s Army is the crystallised cultural essence value of the Vietnamese people, formed through thousands of years of establishing and protecting the country. It represents the combination between the cultural values of the nation and the times; the inheritance and promotion of the cultural and human essence of Vietnam; it is a distinctive feature reflecting the military culture of a revolutionary army, encapsulating the noble characters of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” and becoming a symbol of revolutionary heroism; which is continuously preserved, nurtured, promoted, and shone with noble values.

However, this noble and evident value is always distorted and denied by hostile and reactionary forces through claims such as: “The Army is under the leadership of the Party, serving only the Party, and increasingly distancing from the people”; or that “The Army must be neutral”, not carrying any class nature, nor being under the leadership of any political party. They also “propose” that our Army should be built into a “professional” fighting force following the model of foreign armies; that fulfilling the function of a “working force” and a “production force” only “weakens the Army” and diminishes its “professionalism” as a fighting force, etc. These are not new arguments, but they are very dangerous as they aim to deny the Party’s leadership over the Army; provoke and separate the close relationship between the Army and the people; and, in doing so, erode the ideal goals and fighting strength of the Army. However, no matter how many schemes they devise, they cannot distort or deny the people-oriented nature – a distinctive cultural value, a traditional beauty, and the invincible source of strength of the Vietnam People’s Army, due to the following points:

The people-oriented nature – An inseparable and unified attribute of the army

Marxism-Leninism clearly states that in any society, as a part of the superstructure and an organisation of the state, there is no such thing as a “neutral army” or “standing outside politics”. The army always bears the nature of the ruling class, which dominates state power and organises, nurtures, and uses the army for its purposes. By creatively applying the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint on building a new-style army, the Communist Party of Vietnam and Leader Ho Chi Minh have directly organised, led, educated, and trained the Vietnam People's Army to embody the nature of the working class, alongside deep national and people-oriented natures; fight for the Party’s goals and ideals, as well as for the national independence and the freedom and happiness of the people. President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: “Our Army is a people’s army, born from the people, fighting for the people, loving the nation, loving the people, and therefore sacrificing and enduring hardships” and “Without the people, there would be no army”, “The people are the foundation, the parents of the soldiers”.

The people-oriented nature of the army is inseparable and not in opposition to its class and national natures, but rather is tightly unified with them. The foundation of this organic unity between the working-class nature, the people-oriented nature, and the national nature of the Army lies in the alignment of the working class’s interests with those of the nation and the people. The manifestation of this unity is that, on one hand, the people-oriented nature does not dilute the working-class nature of the army; on the other hand, the Army’s working-class nature does not contradict its people-oriented nature, but rather serves as the primary and decisive condition for the Army to truly embody its people-oriented nature. Specifically, the people-oriented nature is the most significant expression of the Army’s working-class nature. This affirms that the people-oriented nature is an inseparable and undeniable attribute of our Army.

Troops of Military Region 4 help local people grow rice

The Army’s goals and ideals reflect its profound people-oriented nature

National independence and socialism are the goals and ideals of the Party, and they are also the fighting goals and ideals of our Army. From its establishment, our Army has been under the leadership of the Party and Leader Ho Chi Minh, bearing the historical mission of fighting for the people and sacrificing for the people. These goals and ideals represent the crystallisation of the “Party’s will and the people’s hearts”, while also reflecting the deep emotional ties, political responsibility, and moral duty of the Army to the Fatherland, the Party, the State, and the People; serving as the red thread that guide the awareness, attitudes, and actions of generations of cadres and soldiers. Our Army’s cadres and soldiers were lovingly called “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” by the people, a title that deeply signifies the tight bond between the Army and the people, embodying the Vietnamese cultural identity of the Ho Chi Minh era, they are always ready to fight and sacrifice for national independence and the happiness of the people. Therefore, it cannot be said that our Army lacks a people-oriented nature.

The people-oriented nature is reflected in the backgrounds of the cadres and soldiers

Since its establishment, generations of cadres and soldiers in our Army have predominantly come from the people. The Army’s growth and development have been paid for with the blood, intellect, and effort of cadres and soldiers, who are all children of the people. The people have always protected, nurtured, and built the Army, standing with it in both combat and victory. As “children of the people”, our Army’s cadres and soldiers have always “fought for the people”, together with the people overthrowing colonialists and imperialists, unifying the country, and advancing towards socialism. In the current era of national renewal, construction, and defence, the Army’s cadres and soldiers always appear in the most critical, difficult, and dangerous areas, ready to sacrifice to protect the lives and property of the people. This reality affirms that our Army was born from the people, serves the people, and thus naturally possesses a profound people-oriented nature.

The people-oriented nature of the Army is proven through the execution of its functions and duties

As a fighting force, since its establishment, our Army has always been at the forefront of numerous glorious victories, together with the Party and the people to carry out the August Revolution of 1945, achieve the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu, and bring about the Great Victory of Spring 1975, unifying the country and advancing it towards socialism. Today, our Army continues to be the core force, always ready to fight and achieve victory to “firmly safeguard the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, protect the Party, the State, the People, the socialist regime, the nation’s culture and national interests; maintain a peaceful environment, political stability, national security, and human security; build a society of order, discipline, safety, and well-being to develop the country in accordance with socialist orientation”.

In fulfilling its function as a working force, in any conditions and circumstances, our Army has always maintained and promoted the characters of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” - soldiers of the people, sharing the hardships and remaining inseparably bonded with the people, truly serving as the bridge between the Party, the State, and the people; actively participating in building strong political systems at the grassroots level and effectively implementing socio-economic development programmes, helping people overcome poverty, and contributing to the robust development of the “all people’s defence posture”, especially in strategic areas of national defence, security, borders, seas and islands. In particular, our Army has always been the core force, pioneering in disaster prevention, disease control, search and rescue efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, under the motto “fighting the pandemic like fighting the enemy”, with the health of the people as the top priority, the entire military mobilised nearly 140,000 cadres, soldiers, and militia members to participate in pandemic prevention efforts; contributing over one trillion VND to stabilise people's lives and social welfare. In response to natural disasters, most recently during Typhoon No. 3 (Yagi, September 2024), the Army mobilised nearly 458,000 cadres and soldiers along with more than 10,100 vehicles, disregarding danger, hardship, and sacrifice to quickly arrive at the most dangerous areas, protecting lives and property, and working with the people to overcome the consequences, etc. This affirms that: “Wherever there is hardship, there are soldiers”, and the people-oriented nature of the Army is always affirmed, promoted, and shines brightly.

In fulfilling its role as a labour and production force, our Army has always upheld the spirit of proactivity, self-reliance, and resilience, driving economic development and production to improve and enhance the quality of life for the soldiers. Particularly in recent years, corporations, groups, army corps and economic - national defence units, such as: the Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group, Saigon Newport Corporation, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Truong Son Construction Corporation, and others economic - national defence units, have been delivering significant economic benefits while also pioneering in bringing “new vitality” to remote areas, border regions, and islands through key projects that not only serve the people’s livelihood but also hold strategic national defence significance. These efforts contribute to the construction of a robust whole-people national defence posture, a people’s security posture, and a solid “people’s defence posture” in strategic and critical areas. Therefore, continuing to promote and spread out the beautiful image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, and the people-oriented nature of the Army in practice.

The theoretical and practical issues mentioned above may not fully capture all aspects, but they are enough to affirm that the people-oriented nature is a unique cultural value, a traditional beauty, and the source of the invincible strength of the Vietnam People's Army, which no hostile force can distort or deny.

Colonel, Dr. LE HUY TUYNH, Academy of Politics, Ministry of National Defence