Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Nguyễn Huy Hiệu (born 1947) is an officer of the

Vietnam People's Army Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and current Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam. Enlisted in 1965, Nguyễn Huy Hiệu fought in various battlefields during

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, especially the Battle of Quảng Trị where he was appointed commander of battalion at the age of 23. Nguyễn Huy Hiệu began to hold the position of Deputy Minister of Defence in 1994.

Early life

Nguyễn Huy Hiệu was born in 1947 in Long Hải commune,

Hải Hậu District Hải Hậu a̰ːj˧˩˧:hə̰ʔw˨˩is a former Districts of Vietnam, rural district of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. Geography Hải Hậu is divided into 34 Commune-level subdivisions (Vietnam), commune-leve ...

Nam Định Nam Định () is the capital city of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta of the Northern Vietnam. History From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival held in Nam Định called the Cố Trạch. This celebration honors Gener ...

to a peasant family. He is descendant of

Nguyễn Bặc Nguyễn Bặc ( vi-hantu, 阮匐, 924 – 15 October 979), also known with the noble title Định Quốc Công (定國公), was a Vietnamese mandarin and general who served as the Grand Chancellor of Đinh dynasty and was the first chancellor in ...

, a renowned general of the

Đinh Dynasty Dinh (丁) is a Vietnamese surname. In Vietnam, the surname is spelled Đinh or Đình, but the latter is very rare in Vietnamese. Notable people * Andy Dinh, Team SoloMid owner, player * Dan Dinh, ''League of Legends '' player, brother of Andy ...

. His birth name was Nguyễn Văn Hiệu but before enlisting, he decided to change his name to Nguyễn Huy Hiệu in wishing that he would become a commander in battlefield.

Military career

Nguyễn Huy Hiệu joined the

in 1965 at the age of 18. Two year later he became a member of the Labour Party of Vietnam. After serving in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, in February 1968 he began to fight in the

Quảng Trị Quảng Trị () is a district-level town in Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is second of two municipalities in the province after the provincial capital Đông Hà. History The Sino-Vietnamese name Qu ...

front where he was recognized for his skill in commanding and was rapidly promoted to commander of

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

(

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

: ''tiểu đoàn trưởng'') in October 1970 at the age of 23. During the

First Battle of Quảng Trị First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in May 1973, he was appointed commander of

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

(''trung đoàn trưởng'') of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 320th Division, he was also bestowed on the title

Hero of the People's Armed Forces The Hero of the People's Armed Forces () is an honorary designation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Criteria The title (and medal) of Hero of the People's Armed Force is awarded to individuals with "exceptionally outstanding achievements ...

(Anh hùng Lực lượng vũ trang nhân dân). During

, he was decorated with total five Liberation Distinguished Service Medals (Huân chương Chiến công Giải phóng), fourteen Brave Soldier Titles (Danh hiệu Dũng sĩ) and other awards. After the war, Nguyễn Huy Hiệu studied at the Military Academy of Vietnam and served as commander of various military units of the Vietnam People's Army. In June 1988 he was appointed general commander (''tư lệnh'') of the 1st Corps, one of the four corps of the Vietnam People's Army. In October 1994, Nguyễn Huy Hiệu became

Deputy Chief of Staff Deputy Chief of Staff and similar titles can refer to: Military positions United States Air Force *Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Cyber Effects Operations of the United States Air Force * Deputy Chief of St ...

and Deputy Minister Defence, a position that he holds until now.

Rank

Nguyễn Huy Hiệu was promoted to Major General (''thiếu tướng'') in 1988,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

(''trung tướng'') in 1998 and

(''thượng tướng'') in 2003.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Huy Hieu 1947 births Living people North Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War Generals of the People's Army of Vietnam Hero of the People's Armed Forces Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 9th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam People from Nam Định province