Ship 20 left Da Nang Military Port on the morning of May 14 and docked at the port on the morning of June 17 with a voyage of more than 5,000 nautical miles. The success of the first mission to participate in international multilateral activities of Ship 20 and the Working Group had a great contribution from Party and political activities (CTĐ, CTCT).

Colonel Nguyen Quoc Quang, Deputy Commander of Naval Region 3, Head of the working delegation, presented the decision to promote the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or lower to 8 officers on May 19 while Ship 20 was on its way to Langkawi, Malaysia.

Right from the moment of receiving the plan from the superiors, the Party Committee and the commander of Brigade 172 determined that this was an especially important task. This was the first time a ship from Naval Region 3 had passed through the sea route, the density of ships passing through was high, the time at sea was quite long, so there would be many difficulties in ensuring the work and there would be potential risks of insecurity, technical problems, affecting the completion of the task.

Comrade Pham Minh Tien, Secretary of Party Cell 20, chaired the Party Cell Conference to issue a resolution to lead the implementation of tasks for June 2023.

Therefore, the Party Committee and Command of Brigade 172 have studied, thoroughly grasped, and firmly grasped the assigned tasks, identifying this as a key political task in 2023, of great significance in strengthening and consolidating the friendly and cooperative relationship between the Vietnam People's Army and Navy with the Armies and Navies of countries around the world , contributing to building a peaceful, stable, cooperative and developing environment. On that basis, the Party Committee and Command of Brigade 172 have proposed policies and leadership measures to successfully carry out the tasks; assigned specific and meticulous tasks to each relevant organization and individual.

Officers and soldiers of Ship 20 took photos with Malaysian officers and sailors after a cultural and sports exchange in Langkawi.

The Party Committee of Brigade 172 has led and directed agencies and units to build a correct and sufficient system of documents to ensure that Ship 20 can perform its tasks well; proactively review and propose adjustments to troop numbers, weapons and equipment; review political quality; organize additional training, practice handling situations; and synchronously deploy logistics, technical and financial support.

The Political Department of Brigade 172 proactively guided the unit to develop an outline for mission education; organized the dissemination for the troops to grasp the purpose, meaning, requirements, advantages and difficulties in performing the mission. From there, it built up the officers and soldiers with high determination, solidarity, overcoming difficulties, and determination to excellently complete the mission.

Representatives of the leaders and commanders of Brigade 172 and Ship 20 presented flowers to congratulate Colonel Nguyen Quoc Quang on his birthday on June 6.

The 20th Ship's Youth Union organized a birthday celebration in June for the officers and soldiers of the 20th Ship.
Monthly birthday parties include soft drinks, candy, and fun songs.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hoa, Secretary of the Party Committee - Political Commissar of Brigade 172, said: “The Party Committee and Commander of Brigade 172 have directed the Party Committee and Commander of Ship 20 to focus on doing a good job of political and ideological education; thoroughly grasping the tasks, raising the sense of responsibility for all soldiers, determined to successfully complete the task of participating in international multilateral activities; reviewing and supplementing sufficient CTĐ and CTCT supplies, and at the same time building a detailed and specific CTĐ and CTCT plan to strictly maintain a living routine associated with timely encouragement and motivation for officers and soldiers in performing their tasks.”

In addition, Major Pham Minh Tien, Political Commissar of Ship 20, proactively collected and compiled key contents on reception activities, diplomacy and traditional cultural features of Malaysia and Indonesia, and disseminated them to all members of the working delegation.

Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Van Tu, Deputy Commissar of Brigade 172, read the message of encouragement from the Party Committee and Commander of Naval Region 3 Command after Ship 20 completed the sea exercise items within the framework of the 4th Komodo Multilateral Naval Exercise, on the afternoon of June 8.

During the journey, the ship strictly maintained the Party's working regime at all levels; well organized emulation group activities; held political and spiritual cultural days, democratic dialogue to promote collective intelligence in performing tasks; solemnly organized the awarding of military ranks to officers in 2023 according to the direction of Rear Admiral Mai Trong Dinh, Political Commissar of Naval Region 3 to promptly encourage and motivate the troops.

The Party Committee and the commander of Ship 20 also regularly organize cultural and artistic activities and birthday parties for comrades to create a joyful and exciting atmosphere during the ship's long journey, encouraging cadres and youth union members to strive in carrying out their duties. Corporal Ngo Hong Son, an Electromechanical Soldier, Ship 20 shared: It is very happy and touching to celebrate my birthday in a friendly country with congratulations from comrades and comrades. This is a memorable memory in my military life. I am very grateful to the unit commander.

Major Pham Minh Tien, Political Commissar of Ship 20, broadcasts the daily internal newsletter. The newsletter reviews the daily activities of Ship 20 and the Working Group, introduces information about the sea areas the ship passes through, and the customs of Malaysia and Indonesia. Notably, every newsletter has a column called “Uncle Ho’s Teachings on This Day in History”.

Ship 20 has safely docked, successfully completing the assigned tasks. Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Van Tu, Deputy Political Commissar of Brigade 172, said that from the success of this first multilateral foreign affairs mission, the unit will soon organize a meeting to review experience in CTĐ and CTCT activities to clarify the advantages, disadvantages, causes, and specific responsibilities as a basis for building and supplementing the CTĐ and CTCT plan in the defense foreign affairs mission.

Article and photos: NGOC HUNG