- Ministry of Defence (Vietnam)
-
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Ministry of Defence
Agency overview Jurisdiction Government of Vietnam Headquarters Hanoi Citadel Employees 450,000 military[1] Annual budget 27,024 billion VND (2008)[2] Agency executives Gen. Phùng Quang Thanh, Minister of Defence
Col. Gen. Nguyễn Khắc Nghiên
Col. Gen. Nguyễn Huy Hiệu
Col. Gen. Phan Trung Kiên
Col. Gen. Nguyễn Văn Được
Lt. Gen. Trương Quang Khánh
Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Chí Vịnh, Deputy Minister of DefenceMinistry of Defence (Vietnamese: Bộ Quốc phòng) is the governmental ministry of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that manages, coordinates and supervises military affairs, including all military units, paramilitary units, and similar agencies in the country. The major office of the Ministry of Defence is located within the ancient Hanoi Citadel. The ministry is operated under the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as well as other various laws.
Contents
Organization
Command structure
According to the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Ministry of Defence holds the supreme command of the Vietnam People's Army and other paramilitary units.[3] The command organization of the ministry is composed of the central office, the General Staff (Bộ Tổng tham mưu), the General Department of Politics (Tổng cục chính trị) and other general departments, departments. The General Staff is the commanding and coordinating institution of the Vietnam People's Army and other paramilitary units, it is currently directed by the Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of Defence, Col. Gen. Nguyễn Khắc Nghiên who would be also acting minister during the absence of the minister in office. The General Department of Politics, presently headed by Gen. Lê Văn Dũng, takes charge of political, moral and other activities in the military forces related to the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Department of Politics also operates the system of military court and procuracy.[4] Other general departments (tổng cục) of the ministry are General Department of Technique (Tổng cục Kỹ thuật), General Department of Logistics (Tổng cục Hậu cần), General Department of Military Industry (Tổng cục Công nghiệp quốc phòng) and General Department of Military Intelligence (Tổng cục Tình báo quốc phòng or Tổng cục 2). Directly under the ministry are also the Department of Maritime Police (Cục Cảnh sát biển), Rescue Department (Cục Cứu hộ, cứu nạn) and Department of Foreign Relations (Cục Đối ngoại). The command structure of the ministry is coordinated by the Central Office (Văn phòng Bộ) which acts at the same time as office of the Central Party Committee of the military forces (Đảng ủy quân sự Trung ương).[5]
Following is the structure of the central organization of the Ministry of Defence:[6]
Ministry of Defence Chiefs of Staff Dept. of Politics Logistics Industry Technique Intelligence Central Office Foreign Relations Maritime Police Regions of Maritime Police Components
The Ministry of Defence is the supreme command of the Vietnam People's Army which contains several arms and army corps, the Vietnam People's Ground Force, the Vietnamese People's Navy, the Vietnamese People's Air Force and Air Defence, the Vietnam Border Defence Force and the Vietnam Marine Police. To organize the military activities and units, the territory of Vietnam is divided into 7 military regions and the High Command of Capital which contains the region of Hanoi.[6]
The principal and core military force of Vietnam is the Vietnam People's Army (VPA)[7] with a regular force of 450,000 soldiers and officers and the reserve force of about 5 million.[8] The land-based units of the VPA consists of four army coprs (quân đoàn): 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th; six arms (binh chủng): Artillery, Tank and Armoured Warfare, Sappers, Signals, Engineers and Chemical; seven military regions (quân khu) and one command (bộ tư lệnh): 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and the High Command of Capital Hanoi.[9] The border guard, coast guard, air force-air defense and the navy are organized as arms of the VPA, the navy in particular is divided in five naval regions (vùng hải quân) (from 1st to 5th).[10]
Besides, the Ministry of Defence also manages a system of academies, universities and research institutes with a total number of 21 academies (học viện), universities (trường đại học) and one college (trường cao đẳng). The principal academy of the ministry if the Vietnam Academy of Defence (Học viện Quốc phòng), it is the only institution for training strategical officers.[11] The Ministry of Defence has its own branch of economic organizations[12] which contains the Viettel Mobile, one of the leading mobile network operator in Vietnam.
Ministry of Defence Military regions Army corps Arms Air Force
Air DefenceNavy Border Guard Coast Guard 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, Hanoi 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Artillery, Tank
Sappers, Signals
ChemicalNaval regions Academies Universities Research institutes Economic organizations Other units Budget
The annual budget of the Ministry of Defence occupies approximately 2% of the GDP of Vietnam. The principal portion of the budget is used in maintaining the life of officers, sub-officers, soldiers and their readiness for action. Following are the ministry's budgets of recent years:[2]
Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 GDP of Vietnam 839,211 973,791 1,143,442 1,490,000 Ministry's budget 16,278 20,577 28,922 27,024 % per GDP 1,872% 2,194% 2,529% 1,813% Unit: billion VND List of Ministers
- Chu Văn Tấn (1945–1946)
- Phan Anh (1946)
- Võ Nguyên Giáp (1946–1947)
- Tạ Quang Bửu (1947–1948)
- Võ Nguyên Giáp (1948–1980)
- Văn Tiến Dũng (1980–1987)
- Lê Đức Anh (1987–1991)
- Đoàn Khuê (1991–1997)
- Phạm Văn Trà (1997–2006)
- Phùng Quang Thanh (2006–Present)
References
Notes
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 67
- ^ a b Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 38
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 52
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, pp. 53–54
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, pp. 55–56
- ^ a b Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 102
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 61
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 67
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 69
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 72
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 77
- ^ Ministry of Defence (2009), White book, p. 81
Bibliography
- Ministry of Defence of Vietnam (2009) (in Vietnamese). White book of Defence of Vietnam. Hanoi: World Publishing House.
Vietnam People's ArmyGeneral Ministry of Defence • Vietnam People's Army • General Staff • General Department of PoliticsBranches Military regions 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 7th • 9th • High Command of Capital HanoiArmy corps 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4thOthers General Department of Technique • General Department of Logistics • General Department of Military Industry • General Department of Military IntelligenceMinisters of Defence of Vietnam Chu Văn Tấn (1945–1946) • Phan Anh (1946) • Võ Nguyên Giáp (1946–1947; 1948–1980) • Tạ Quang Bửu (1947–1948) • Văn Tiến Dũng (1980–1987) • Lê Đức Anh (1987–1991) • Đoàn Khuê (1991–1997) • Phạm Văn Trà (1997–2006) • Phùng Quang Thanh (2006–present)Categories:- Ministry of Defence (Vietnam)
- Government of Vietnam
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