At the K25 wharf on the right bank of the Cam River, Company 6 of the 131st Naval Brigade, the unit responsible for river crossing, search and rescue, is practicing river crossing using a medium-sized amphibious tracked vehicle called PTS. At this time, the sun is hot and scorching on the training ground. Major Vu Quang Vinh, Company 6's captain, is highly focused on maintaining the unit's training.

Officers and soldiers of Brigade 131 performed a competition of crossing the river by amphibious vehicle in the Army-wide Engineering Sports Festival.

Training in search and rescue on rivers and seas.

We observed that the soldiers were wearing life jackets, their clothes were soaked with sweat, because the training intensity was very urgent and intense. After loud, clear, coherent commands were decisive movements, from the driver to the platoon leader, squad leader, and soldiers all performed skillfully. The buoys and technical equipment from the truck bed were lowered to the riverbank. Only ten minutes later, the amphibious vehicle carrying people and vehicles across the river had a load capacity of up to ten tons. After the safe river crossing, Major Vu Quang Vinh confided that the implementation process required careful preparation of the vehicles, loading, and tying, and the positions on the crew were very proficient, ensuring safe river crossing even when unloading. “In addition to training in building bridges and roads, detecting and clearing bombs and mines, training in crossing rivers and laying mines on rivers, which are the basic tasks of the engineering force, during the rainy and stormy season, using PTS tracked vehicles for rescue and relief is a very important task, always receiving close attention from commanders at all levels. Therefore, when new soldiers are assigned to the unit, they must be trained in basic skills and professional movements,” said Major Vu Quang Vinh.

Practice sketching fortifications by the engineer squad.

Training in detecting and handling bombs, mines and explosives.
Soldiers practice placing TM 57 anti-tank mines.

Returning to the comprehensive training ground, we saw Senior Lieutenant Truong Van Linh, Platoon Leader of Platoon 1, Company 2, Battalion 881, working out a combat situation but of a more complex nature: There were bombs, fires, explosions, collapsed structures, toxic chemicals... Following Senior Lieutenant Linh's orders, the soldiers stretched out ropes to cordon off the area, dividing the search area into squares, so that the search team could carry out their tasks. The soldiers used multi-function detectors, screening equipment and K250 thermal cameras to check and search for explosives, bombs, mines, and radioactive substances around the identified areas. When a signal was detected, a flag would be planted to mark the location and forces would be deployed to handle it safely. Then they would continue to search other areas according to plan... We were very impressed that the training ground was prepared closely to reality, and the soldiers practiced seriously. Despite having to move a lot and carry machines and equipment that takes a lot of energy, the soldiers always practice diligently and strive to complete their training sessions well.

Talking to us, Private First Class Bui Van Thang, a student of the 24th Engineer Squad Leader class, Battalion 881, said: “This is an important content for students to be proficient when participating in search and rescue. In addition to specialized engineering training, we practice search and rescue, thereby mastering the basic knowledge and techniques and proficiently using the equipment and weapons in the establishment, ensuring solid theory and good practice.”

Identifying training and combat readiness as one of the regular key tasks of the unit, in recent times, the Party Committee and Brigade Command have focused on leading and directing the implementation of political and ideological education; strictly maintaining the training regime close to the situation; mastering the plans, ensuring the successful completion of tasks. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Quang, Deputy Brigade Commander, Chief of Staff shared that the unit's troops are often dispersed, performing construction tasks. Therefore, the unit proactively follows the superior professional agencies to develop a training plan with correct content, time, and close to each subject. In training, we always focus on training and fostering to improve the qualifications, management, command, and operation capacity of cadres at all levels, especially training in engineering techniques. Along with that, the unit attaches importance to training in proficiency in weapons and equipment in the establishment, combining training and political and ideological education to improve the political capacity of soldiers.

Thanks to practical policies and solutions, the training of the engineering profession has achieved very encouraging results. The motto "Basic, practical, solid" is demonstrated by the officers and soldiers of the unit proficiently through each training content. That is also the basis for many years of the Brigade to successfully complete its tasks, contributing to building a strong, comprehensive, "exemplary, typical" unit.

Article and photos: XUAN DUNG

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/xay-dung-quan-doi/tren-thao-truong-huan-luyen-chuyen-nganh-cong-binh-o-lu-doan-131-hai-quan-842190