1st Corps (Vietnam People's Army)


1st Corps or Quyết thắng Corps is one of the four regular army corps of the Vietnam People's Army. First organised in 1973 during the Vietnam War, 1st Corps had a major role in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign that ended the war. Today the corps is stationed in Tam Điệp District, Ninh Bình.
In July 1973, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam after its 21st conference issued a resolution of strengthening the armed forces to unify the country. In executing the issue, three months later the Ministry of Defence and the Military Commission of the Central Committee approved the plan of organising regular army corps for the Vietnam People's Army. On 24 October 1973, General Võ Nguyên Giáp, Minister of Defence, signed the edict No. 142/QĐ-QP that led to the establishment of the 1st Corps in Tam Điệp, Ninh Bình. The first headquarters of the corps was composed of party committee secretary Lê Quang Hòa and commander and deputy secretary Lê Trọng Tấn.
After the victory of the Vietnam People's Army in Tây Nguyên Campaign in March 1975, 1st Corps was ordered to move to South Vietnam and participate in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign. During the last days of the war, 1st Corps had a major role in the attack on Saigon, in which it was assigned the mission of capturing the headquarters of the ARVN's General Staff. The corps was awarded the title Hero of the People's Armed Forces in 1985.

Organisation

The command structure of 1st Corps consists of the High Command, the Staff of 1st Corps, the Political Department, the Department of Logistics and the Department of Technique. The combat forces of the corps include the 308th Division, 312th Division, 390th Division, 367th Air Defence Division, 202nd Tank Brigade, 45th Artillery Brigade and 299th Engineer Brigade.