Faced with that requirement, Điện Biên province has focused on consolidating military and defense potential, maintaining political stability and social order and safety, and meeting the requirements and tasks of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

The two-tier local government model has created a distinct change in the leadership, direction, and administration of military and defense tasks at the grassroots level. Streamlining the apparatus and abolishing the district level helps improve the effectiveness of state management regarding defense; orders and directives are deployed quickly and directly down to the commune and ward; information from the grassroots level is reported in a timely manner, ensuring unified and smooth direction. Key tasks such as force building, combat readiness training, military recruitment, and the construction of defensive zones are deployed close to reality, promoting the role and responsibility of the grassroots-level government in maintaining political stability and social order and safety. The new model sets higher requirements for the armed forces of the province, demanding proactiveness, flexibility, and close coordination among forces in the context of complex global and regional developments.

Senior Colonel Trịnh Đức Thiêm, Commander of the Military Command of the province, said: “When the district level no longer exists, the tasks of the Commune Military Command are heavier than before; ranging from advisory work for the Party committee and grassroots-level government to organizing force building, training, grasping the situation in the area, and handling arising situations. If the organization is not consolidated in time, and the quality of the cadre team and operational methods are not improved, the grassroots-level military force will find it difficult to meet the task requirements in the new situation.”

Faced with that urgent requirement, after arranging and implementing the two-tier local government, the Military Command of the province proactively advised the provincial Party Committee and the People’s Committee of the province to lead and direct the synchronous deployment of solutions to build forces and a military and defense posture suitable to the new situation. The focus is on concentrating on consolidating the organization and staffing of the local armed forces in the direction of being lean, compact, and strong, ensuring unified and smooth leadership and direction from the province to the grassroots level. Accordingly, the Military Command of the province has implemented the abolition of 10 Military Commands of districts, towns, and cities to establish 4 Defensive Area Commands, contributing to improving the effectiveness of command and administration, meeting task requirements under the new organizational structure.

Along with organizational consolidation, the combined quality and combat readiness of the standing force, militia and self-defense forces, and mobilization reserves in the province have been constantly improved. Currently, the whole province has 130 militia and self-defense bases, including militia in 45 bases and self-defense forces in 85 bases, with numbers accounting for 1.9% of the population; the rate of party members in the militia and self-defense forces reached 15.8%. The work of registration, management, and arrangement of reserve soldiers and reserve technical means is carried out strictly, reaching 100% of the target, in which party members in the mobilization reserve force reached 10.2%. Training and rehearsal work continues to be innovated, close to the practical conditions of the mountainous and border terrain, focusing on collaborative training and improving the ability to handle defense-security situations.

In building the military and defense posture, the Military Command of the province has advised on fully consolidating steering committees, command committees, and councils at all levels regarding defense, and adjusting and supplementing the planning of the provincial defensive zone posture to suit the two-tier local government model. The all-people national defense posture linked with the people’s security posture continues to be firmly consolidated, especially in key areas and border areas. The system of military and defense works is managed and used strictly and for the right purposes. Items such as training grounds, shooting ranges, anti-aircraft machine gun positions, and defensive clusters are being built to ensure progress; the planning for building assumed combat bases serving the provincial defensive zone rehearsal is being gradually completed. In 2025, the Military Command of the province participated in appraising 56 socio-economic development projects associated with consolidating the defense-security of the province, ensuring strictness and compliance with regulations.

Focusing on defense-security education, in 2025, the whole province organized training on defense-security knowledge for 2,342 officials, party members, village elders, village heads, and reputable people; and defense education for 7,531 students. Thereby, raising the awareness and responsibility of officials, party members, and the people regarding the task of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

In the coming time, Điện Biên province will continue to focus on enhancing military and defense potential, ensuring suitability with the requirements of operating the two-tier local government model. According to Colonel Trịnh Đức Thiêm, the Military Command of the province will proactively advise the provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, and People’s Committee to lead and direct the effective implementation of the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies and laws on military and defense tasks; promptly concretizing them with documents suitable to the new organizational model. The armed forces of the province continue to be built in the direction of being revolutionary, regular, elite, and gradually modern; consolidating a powerful mobilization reserve force and a strong, widespread militia and self-defense force; improving the quality of training and rehearsals close to task requirements and terrain characteristics. At the same time, the province focuses on building a solid defensive zone, closely linking socio-economic development with consolidating defense-security; promoting defense-security education and building a team of military officers at all levels, especially officers of the commune Military Command, meeting task requirements in the new situation.