The few female medical officers in the Vietnamese contingent to the Army Games 2019 have undergone rigorous training for the Russia Army Games next month.

Eight teams of the Vietnam People's Army joined at a military training ground in the northern Vinh Phuc Province on Tuesday to get ready to compete in eight disciplines at event organized by Russian Defense Ministry on August 3-17.

This year, the Vietnamese contingent comprises tank crew, medical staff, food service specialists, emergency rescue personnel, armored vehicles crew, literary/art and dancing contestants, snipers, and chemical reconnaissance vehicles.

Only the medical relay team has female members.

A female officer receives help to put on a bullet-proof vest.

The military medical relay team will race with teams from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Russia, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

A female medical officer crawls under barbed wire to approach a wounded individual in a simulated setting. In addition to professional skills training, they were also given shooting lessons, and exercises involving overcoming obstacles and crossing rivers.

A female officer carries out first aid on a wounded soldier in the battlefield after overcoming multiple obstacles.

"It was not a long journey but it was really a big challenge, because I had to lift the wounded person weighing more than 80kg using my knees," said Lieutenant Nguyen Thi Hanh (R), who trained for the military medical relay race.

According to the competition rules, contestants must provide medical aid to subjects weighing 80kg and above. Hence, the female soldiers were given training to strengthen their knees, legs and arms and taught to place a wounded soldier on their knees and drag him/her for a distance of 15 meters. Previously, tarpaulins were allowed in this contest, but that’s no longer the case.

A wounded soldier is taken from the BTR armored vehicle to the ground in a simulated situation where a vehicle is hit during combat.

A female soldier carries an 80-kilogram male soldier and runs 15 meters.

Three soldiers practice delivering a wounded soldier, lying on a flat wood surface, using a rope over a river that has no bridge. One of the competitions requires contestants to make use of a rope by tying it around trees to deliver the wounded from one side of a river to the other. The soldiers must learn how to make strong knots and exert strong pulls.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Bach Dang, head of the Vietnam Military Medical Relay Team, runs in a simulated setting that tests soldiers’ skills to overcome obstacles.

Dang dissembles an AK rifle as part of the training.

"Last year the teams joined the Army Games primarily to improve their skills and gain experience. This year, the teams have prepared ahead... and are determined to win prizes for the country and the Vietnamese army," said Dang.

Last year, when the country made its debut at the games, Vietnam fielded candidates for just three disciplines.