An all-female air defense company of military cannoneers, the only one of its kind in Vietnam, is not something one expects to see every day.

Members of the Militiawomen Company 4 of Dong Lam Commune, located in Tien Hai District in the northern province of Thai Binh, ensure that they always comply with the stringent, army-like discipline.

Busy as farmers, they are always willing to put aside their work to be on duty at their unit around the clock on certain days in a week.

Following a siren on a typical day recently, it took only two minutes for the women to get into position on the cannon plate.

The single-barrel 37-milimeter flak cannon has been in use since 1967, and is still functioning well after nearly five decades.

“We have maintained a strict duty schedule with a battery on round-the-clock standby to detect targets and come up with combat approaches,” Huong Ly, the company chief, said.

The battery is also tasked with announcing daily flight schedules from the provincial Military Command and relevant units, in addition to conducting patrols, standing guard, and mobilizing forces to ensure maximum security on major public holidays and during political events at central and local levels, she added.

“The all-female air defense cannon company is unique nationwide,” Senior Lieutenant Pham Van Dong, officer of Tien Hai District Military Command, beamed with pride.

The battery’s youngest member is Tran Thi Luong, 32, while the most experienced is Luong Thi Duong, the company’s deputy chief, who has been onboard for 14 years now.

Exposed to the scorching sun and performing strenuous maneuvers with the cannon during drills, the women all have suntanned skin, wiry hair, coarse- faces and rough hands.

The current company’s predecessor was the all-female Tien Hai District Militia Company, which was formed in December 1967 and was made up of 82 militiawomen aged 18 to 25.

The forerunner was tasked with safeguarding the Lan sewage pipe system, which supplied irrigation water to 40,000 hectares of paddy fields in the province’s four southern districts.

They were also integral to the protection of three bridges on one of the district’s arteries, and keeping a tight rein on enemy aircraft’s activity at the estuaries to the Hong River, one of the northern region’s major waterways, and the Tra Ly River.

When the American war in Vietnam ended in 1975, the forerunning company had been engaged in 129 battles of different scales, shot down two U.S. planes, and along with a local soldier company, gunned down and damaged four others.

The unit, which was named ‘[People’s Armed Forces Heroic Unit’ in December 1973, continued to function until 1984, when it was handed over to the administration of Dong Lam Commune People’s Committee and had its name changed into the current Militiawomen Company 4.

The unit, now tasked with safeguarding the province’s southern sky, has worked seamlessly on a regular basis with major military entities including Radar Station 25, Air Defense-Air Force Division 363 and Military Zone 3’s Division 395 in devising combat approaches.

The company has a current membership of 40 and a battery operating day and night.

On the country’s special occasions, such as the 12^th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, held in January 2016, two cannons are invariably in place for action.Boundless dedication, passion

Its members spend every Wednesday training rigorously on the drill grounds.

Maneuvers include getting the cannons ready and moving the barrels upward and downward, which require only three men, but up to 10 women, to perform.

Such taxing drills drain the women out physically.

Many of its members have difficulty eking out a living, as monthly militia allowances of nearly VND3 million (US$133) hardly suffices.

But for their profound respect of the company’s glorious past and ceaseless passion for artillery, they would likely seek jobs as workers at Tien Hai Industrial Park in the vicinity, which can earn them double what they can as a militiawoman.

“I met with fierce family objection before finally joining the company in 2012,” 32-year-old Luong, the battery’s youngest member, recalled.

She has managed to gain her husband’s support for her indulgence, and trusted him with caring for their young children as well as household chores.

Ly, the company chief, who has been on the job for almost 10 years, shared that she has been infatuated with weaponry and nurtured her dream of becoming a cannon militiawoman since a child.

“I was involved from 2001 to 2009, before I got married and stayed home to nurse my baby,” she added.

“I later insisted that my husband allow me to return to my dream job. He didn’t give his permission until early last year, when our son turned four.”