Born into a family with a rich revolutionary tradition in Binh Son district (Quang Ngai), Le Van An dreamed of becoming a soldier of Uncle Ho since he was young. In 2004, An joined the army and then registered for the intermediate level exam at the Military Technical Officer School (Vinhempich). After a period of studying and training, Le Van An graduated with honors and was assigned by his superiors to work at the Staff Department, Brigade 573; in charge of repairing all kinds of weapons, equipment and technical means.

With a spirit of eagerness to learn and not giving up on difficulties, An and his teammates have researched and created many highly practical technical innovations and improvements, which have been applied to the training process and combat readiness; ensuring the lives of soldiers. Sharing with us, An said: “Realizing that in the unit, there are some types of weapons and technical equipment that have been used for many years, have been out of production for a long time, and have been affected by the harsh weather in the Central region... so it is inevitable that they will deteriorate, especially the technical coefficient of the technical equipment... Therefore, I boldly reported and proposed ideas to my superiors to allow the implementation of research and improvement of some means and equipment to contribute to improving the effectiveness of the unit's mission performance”.

Captain Le Van An of the Military Region 5 presented the initiative "DK-573 Disinfectant Robot" to the Initiative Evaluation Council of Brigade 573 (Military Region 5).

Realizing those ideas, Captain Le Van An has had many initiatives and technical improvements applied to the unit's practice, and has been commended and rewarded by the Head of the Ministry of National Defense, the Head of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army and the Command of Military Region 5. Notably, Le Van An is the "father" of 3 initiatives that won high prizes at the 19th, 20th and 23rd "Creative Youth Awards in the Army". That result contributed to the "innovation tree" of Brigade 573 continuously achieving the title of Emulation Fighter at the base and the Emulation Fighter of the whole army in 2022.

When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out strongly, to overcome and contain the epidemic, the team of cadres, medical staff, chemical soldiers... had to spray disinfectants using many manual means and equipment, forcing the soldiers to go directly to the epidemic area, with a high risk of infection. Faced with that reality, with the desire to create a robot that can completely replace humans in performing disinfection tasks, capable of operating in a small range, especially in hospitals and quarantine areas, Le Van An researched, manufactured and successfully applied the "DK-573 Disinfectant Robot" to meet the above requirements and was highly appreciated by leaders at all levels and functional agencies.

Talking about his contribution, Le Van An modestly said: “If each person upholds responsibility for the unit and the common task, they will naturally strive to contribute and arouse their passion for creativity. The results achieved will be a great source of motivation for me to continue to be creative and complete all assigned tasks well in the future.”

Article and photos: TAN TU - HUY TUAN