At the 68th Artillery Regiment, a unit awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces, we witnessed the enthusiastic training, combat readiness, and work of the officers and soldiers, all under the spirit of "Raising the red flag of August high - Competing to achieve three bests." Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Hoi, Political Commissar of the 68th Artillery Regiment, stated: "During this peak emulation period, the officers and soldiers of the Regiment are maximizing the unit's tradition of being the originator of the 'Three Best' Movement (the unit with the best shooting, the largest number of participants, and the most consistent quality) to successfully achieve today's 'Three Best' goals. These are: The entire regiment strives to educate willpower, raise political awareness and duty, and assume the highest level of responsibility; achieve the highest results in political tasks; and build the most disciplined and law-abiding force. Along with that, the Regiment focuses on breakthroughs in the leadership and command style of officers at all levels, closely monitoring the troops, and paying attention to the material and spiritual well-being of officers and soldiers..."

The commander of the 68th Artillery Regiment inspects and guides artillery crews during specialized training. Photo: VAN DUC

To see for ourselves, we visited the units under the Regiment. Despite ongoing construction and upgrading of the barracks, the officers and soldiers strictly adhered to regulations; the internal affairs were neat and tidy. At Company 3, Battalion 1, we were informed by Major Phung Dinh Duyen, the Company Commander: "Over the years, the Company has consistently performed well in all assigned tasks. Officers from platoon to company level always closely monitor and understand the thoughts and circumstances of the soldiers; effectively combine education and disciplinary training, strictly maintaining daily and weekly routines and regulations; and coordinate with families and local authorities to manage the troops... As a result, the Company has had no cases of disciplinary violations such as desertion, abandonment of duty, or unauthorized absence; new recruit training achieved a good rating, and specialized training achieved an excellent rating."

Upon arriving at the specialized training ground, we felt as if we were immersed in the vibrant training atmosphere, embodying the spirit of the "Three Best" era. Slogans like "Sweat on the training ground saves blood on the battlefield," and "One hour of intense training is better than a whole day of perfunctory work"... were put into practice on the training ground. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Dien, Deputy Regiment Commander and Chief of Staff, was constantly present on the training ground. Inspecting the 122-M46 artillery crew, guiding and correcting the technical movements of the troops, and ensuring safe training, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Dien introduced: "In recent years, especially after the Regiment was transferred from the 304th Division (2nd Corps) to the 312th Division (July 2023) and implemented the full-strength unit model, the Regiment has been equipped with many new weapons and equipment, such as: Su-152 and Su-122 self-propelled artillery; BM-21 multiple rocket launchers, along with improved artillery weapons and equipment, STV-380 infantry rifles... Along with training according to the basic, practical, and solid principles, emphasizing synchronization, specialization, and improving the quality of training for new recruits, the Regiment has intensified night training, focusing on training to master the operation of artillery weapons and equipment. Officers and personnel of the Regiment strive to research and develop technical innovation initiatives, ensuring logistics support." The regiment has sufficient quantity and quality of weapons and equipment to serve training, combat readiness, and regular and unexpected missions. From 2020 to the present, the regiment has ensured absolute safety; the results of annual training inspections have met 100% of the requirements, with 82.3% achieving good or excellent ratings; the technical coefficient of weapons and equipment has reached over 98%, and the group of weapons and equipment for combat readiness has reached 100%. The regiment won first prize in the Division-level Competition for Excellent Artillery Company Officers in 2024...

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Dien affirmed: The experiences and precedents in artillery combat throughout the resistance wars and in the cause of national construction and defense have been creatively applied, developed, and concretized in training; building and organizing forces in exercises, combat, and combat readiness duty of the Regiment.

In a conversation with us, Lieutenant Colonel Vu Hoang Phuong, Commander of the 68th Artillery Regiment, added: The achievements the Regiment gained while serving in the former 304th Division, 2nd Corps, and its development from a permanent framework unit, training reserve forces, to a fully-staffed unit equipped with modern weapons and equipment, are among the driving forces for the Regiment's officers and soldiers to strive for excellence. The Regiment was the birthplace of the "Three Best" emulation movement, and it continues to uphold this tradition and remain one of the leading units in the Emulation Movement of the 312th Division and the 12th Corps.

In 2024, the Regiment was awarded the Emulation Flag and the "Excellent Training Unit" flag by the Minister of National Defense . In 2025, the Regiment was awarded the Third Class Order of National Defense by the Party and the State. The 70th anniversary of the 68th Artillery Regiment's founding (October 20, 1955 / October 20, 2025) is an opportunity for the officers and soldiers of the Regiment to feel even more proud, united, and strive harder to excellently fulfill their assigned tasks and achieve the goals set forth in the Resolution of the 312th Division Party Congress and the Regiment's Party Committee for the 2025-2030 term.

AUTUMN ROSE FRAGRANCE

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    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/xay-dung-quan-doi/luon-dan-dau-o-don-vi-ba-nhat-849798