Forty years ago, Forestry Station 715—the predecessor unit of the 715 Economic-Defense Group—was established with the nhiệm vụ of cultivating, caring for, exploiting, and processing forest products, protecting forests; and at the same time carrying out international duties in the two neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia.
Back then, the Central Highlands region was still poor and underdeveloped; the consequences of war were quite severe, posing many potential dangers. The unit's officers were mainly returnees from the battlefield, lacking experience in economic management and organizing labor and production. When it was first established, the unit had only over 100 officers and soldiers, operating in a vast, dispersed area from Stung Treng and Ratanakiri in Cambodia to Attapeu in Laos and along the western border of Gia Lai province. Living and working conditions within the unit were still very difficult and inadequate...
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Major General Hoang Van Sy, Commander of the 15th Army Corps, presented the military flag and established the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade (September 2025). |
During this period, the unit was assigned the task of participating in the construction of the 500kV North-South power transmission line in the provinces of Kon Tum, Dak Lak, and the former Da Nang city. This was a completely new task; construction took place in rugged mountainous terrain, and the primary means of production were manual labor. However, with the spirit of solidarity, unwavering determination, and steadfast resolve of the Ho Chi Minh's Army soldiers, the Party Committee and the unit's command led the unit to uphold the spirit of self-reliance, self-improvement, and creative labor, successfully completing the assigned project volume, ensuring progress and absolute safety.
Through several name changes to meet mission requirements, the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade has shifted from carrying out tasks related to cultivating, caring for, exploiting, and processing forest products, and protecting forests... to planting, caring for, exploiting, and processing rubber and coffee; building residential clusters; and developing the economy in conjunction with strengthening national defense and security along the border belt. The Ia Grai region ( Gia Lai province ), once heavily devastated by war, had poor and outdated infrastructure.
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| Rubber latex production line at the factory of the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade. |
While production capital was limited and the staff lacked experience in the techniques of planting and caring for industrial crops, the Party Committee and unit commanders proposed many sound policies and solutions. They simultaneously organized land reclamation and replanting, while also caring for the material and spiritual well-being of the personnel, strengthening their confidence, and building determination. Despite these initial difficulties, the officers, soldiers, defense workers, and employees quickly stabilized their morale, becoming deeply committed to the unit and the border region.
From barren, desolate lands, the 715 Economic-Defense Brigade has built lush rubber plantations in the heart of the Central Highlands, creating jobs and stable incomes for thousands of workers, making a significant contribution to poverty reduction, socio-economic development, and maintaining political stability in the border region. Initially established with only 200 workers and over 144 hectares of rubber, the 715 Economic-Defense Brigade has now grown into 15 production teams, managing 3,467.92 hectares of rubber, a rubber processing plant with a capacity of 4,000 tons/year, a 25-bed military-civilian medical clinic, and a kindergarten with 39 classes, regularly caring for nearly 500 children.
Following the motto of the 15th Army Corps, "Wherever plantations are developed, labor is attracted and residential areas are built," when the unit first arrived in the western part of Gia Lai province, there were only 2 residential areas. Today, this has developed into 20 residential areas, attracting over 1,300 laborers, including more than 700 local ethnic minority workers. The growth of the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade has contributed to creating stable jobs for nearly 1,300 laborers, the majority of whom are local ethnic minorities. With an average rubber latex yield of 1.4-2.1 tons/ha, the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade is one of the high-yielding units of the 15th Army Corps.
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| Workers of the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade gather rubber latex after harvesting. |
To strengthen the bond between the military and the people, and to help the local people develop their economy, the agencies and units under the 715 Economic-Defense Brigade have established fraternal ties with 16 villages, building 304 pairs of households connecting Kinh ethnic worker families with local ethnic worker families. Over the years, the Brigade has focused on supporting the construction of hundreds of houses of gratitude and compassion for policy beneficiary families and poor households...
Implementing a program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated housing, ensuring no one is left behind, the unit organized free medical examinations, treatment, and medication for tens of thousands of people. The unit also guided the conversion of hundreds of hectares of crops, renovated dozens of kilometers of rural roads, installed solar-powered streetlights, and built cultural community halls... with a total investment of tens of billions of dong. These deeply humane actions of the unit have contributed to fostering a strong and close bond of solidarity between the military and the people.
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| The 715 Economic-Defense Brigade handed over the "Bright Star of the Village" project to the people of Ech village, Ia Krai commune, Gia Lai province. |
From a desolate, sparsely populated, and famine-stricken land with a complex security and political situation, along with the local Party committee, government, and units stationed in the area, generations of officers, soldiers, workers, and laborers of the 715 Economic-Defense Brigade have successfully fulfilled their functions as a "fighting force, a working force, and a production force," contributing to the economic, cultural, and social development of the western border region of Gia Lai province, maintaining national defense and security, and building a solid "battleground of the people's hearts."
With its exceptionally outstanding achievements throughout its development and growth, the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade has been awarded many prestigious honors by the Party, the State, the Ministry of National Defense, the 15th Army Corps, and local Party committees and authorities. On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the 715th Economic-Defense Brigade was honored to receive the First Class Order of National Defense from the President of Vietnam.
Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/quoc-phong-toan-dan/tiep-suc-de-vung-bien-gioi-phat-trien-1044297
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