Land forces of the NVA

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Land forces of the National People's Army

Emblem of the Ground Forces of NVA (East Germany) .svg
active March 1, 1956 to October 2, 1990
Country Flag of NVA (East Germany) .svg GDR
Armed forces National Peoples Army
Type Land Forces
Strength 105,850 (Soll, Frieden, 1990)

394,350 (target, war, 1990)

Insinuation Kdo Land Forces
Land Forces Command Wildlife Park West

The land forces of the National People's Army (LaSK) were the army of the National People's Army of the German Democratic Republic . The High Command of the Land Forces in Geltow was established on December 1, 1972.

history

Honorary company of the NVA guard regiment in East Berlin 1985

The establishment of the land forces took place in 1956 as part of the establishment of the NVA and the Ministry of National Defense. For this purpose, the land units of the Barracked People's Police (KVP), which emerged from the People's Police Readiness of the Ministry of the Interior in 1952, were reclassified and renamed. The Ministry of National Defense initially led the land forces directly through the two subordinate territorial administrations of the KVP North and South, which from 1957 formed the commandos of military districts III in Leipzig and V in Neubrandenburg (until 1956 in Pasewalk).

In 1972, the military districts were subordinated to the newly established command of the land forces, which was responsible for training and deployment preparation in peacetime.

assignment

The land forces of the NVA were firmly integrated into the structures of the Warsaw Pact . In this context, they were supposed to repel an attack on the territory of the contracting states and in particular the GDR , in particular in conjunction with the troops of the Soviet Union , Poland and Czechoslovakia , and then smash the enemy on their territory.

organization

Organization chart of the land forces of the NVA, 1986

The structure of the armed forces from 1980 to 1990:

Military branches, special troops and services

Military branches
Special troops and services
  • Reconnaissance troops
  • Engineer troops
  • News troops
  • Troops and units of radio electronic combat
  • Chemical Defense Troops
  • technical services
  • Rear services

structure

Deployment of the LaSK

In the late 1980s, the ground forces of the NVA in the command of the land forces and the two affiliated military districts III and V .

The commandos of the military districts already led the motorized rifle divisions and the armored divisions of the land forces in peace. In addition, associations, units and departments were directly subordinate to them. This also included the military training areas, the army hospitals, the military district commands with subordinate military district commands, district transport command offices, rail transport command offices, district supply camps, control and operations centers and the military justice organs (military courts / public prosecutors).

In the event of a war, the commands should be reclassified into the field command of the 3rd and 5th Army and the commands of the Territorial Military Districts III and V. For both armies a deployment under the command of the Supreme Commander of the United Armed Forces was planned on the Western Theater of War . The two territorial military districts would have been assigned the tasks of mobilization, military substitution and territorial defense, among other things, after they had been placed directly under the Minister for National Defense.

Land Forces Command

The Land Forces Command (Kdo. LaSK) was set up on December 1, 1972 and was the command and command of the NVA land forces in peace.

Military District III

The Military District III (also MB-III or military district south) was the southern United Association of NVA land forces, the defense case to the 3rd Army would have grown. In peacetime the MB-III was directly subordinate to the Kdo. LaSK , the command staff and the command command were in Leipzig .

The following major units, units, units, units and facilities were directly subordinate to the MB-III command (Kdo.MB-III):

The following training institutions, led by Kdo.MB-III in peace, formed the basis for the formation of the mobilization divisions :

Military District V

The Military District V (also MB-V or military district North) was the northern United Association of NVA land forces, the defense case to the 5th Army would have grown. In peacetime the MB-V was directly subordinate to the Kdo.LaSK , the command staff and the command command were in Neubrandenburg .

Reinforcement

In the event of mobilization, it was planned to strengthen the active units, units and units of the NVA. The personnel required for this were primarily recruited from reservists. Ammunition, combat technology and some of the support vehicles were stored in complex storage facilities and were preserved for a long time. Missing vehicles and equipment should have been provided by companies and state institutions as a so-called material mobilization supplement. The measures necessary for mobilization were planned both by the NVA and by state institutions and companies. The formation of individual units, units and units was practiced regularly. In general, the mobilization units should be set up within three days in the event of mobilization. The workforce of the land forces would have grown from a state of peace with 103,996 soldiers, including 13,880 officers, to a state of war with 257,960 soldiers, including 31,538 officers. The number of armored personnel carriers, as well as the number of guns and missile launchers, would have more than doubled.

The armed forces of the Soviet Union kept nuclear warheads in the special weapons camps in Himmelpfort and Stolzenhain , which were to be issued to the 5th and 3rd NVA Army in the event of war.

In the event of full mobilization, the six regular divisions would have been reinforced by a total of five mobilization divisions . The training centers (formerly NCO schools) of the land forces formed the basis for the list. This permanent staff was reinforced mainly by reservists. The following should be set up:

Under the responsibility of the Land Forces Command, the Reserve Motorized Rifle Regiment 13, the Reserve Tank Hunter Regiments 13 and 15 and the Reserve Motorized Rifle Battalions 13, 15, 23, 25, 33 and 43 would have been set up.

Other units and units of the NVA would also have grown up if they had been mobilized. The artillery regiments of the military districts would have grown up into artillery brigades, the tank destroyer divisions of the military districts into tank destroyer regiments. The repair battalions of the military districts formed the basis for the establishment of repair brigades. In addition to combat and combat support troops, a large number of medical, logistical and other support facilities would have been set up in the event of mobilization.

Associations

Divisions

  • Motorized Rifle Division
  • Armored Division

Regiments

  • Artillery Regiment
  • Replacement regiment
  • Anti-aircraft missile regiment

Battalions

  • Reconnaissance Battalion
  • Chemical Defense Battalion
  • Battalion Material Security
  • Lead battery chief missiles / artillery
  • Command battery chief air defense
  • Repair Battalion
  • News battalion
  • Engineer Battalion
  • Medical Battalion

Detachments

  • Panzerjäger detachment
  • Missile department
  • Heavy throwing department

equipment

SPW at the parade on October 7, 1989
T-55AM2B of the NVA
Ural-375D with BM-21 multiple rocket launcher system
Listen P2M
Ural-375D of the NVA
ZIL-135 of the NVA
2S3 self-propelled gun

Handguns

Armored vehicles

Missile systems

Off-road vehicles

Transport vehicles

Howitzers

literature

Web links

Commons : Land forces of the NVA  - Collection of images

Remarks

  1. ↑ The former defense minister of the GDR, Theodor Hoffmann , on the other hand, mentions in the appendix of his book "Das last Kommando", Mittler, 1993, ISBN 3-8132-0420-0 on p. 320 the number of 394,350 soldiers as "Soll II" for the Mobilization case in March 1990.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodor Hoffmann: "The last command", Mittler, 1993, ISBN 3-8132-0420-0 , p. 320
  2. ↑ a b c Helmut Göpel: "NVA Landstwehr Forces" In: Klaus Naumann : "NVA: Claim and Reality; according to selected documents ”, Mittler, Berlin / Bonn / Herford, 1993. ISBN 3-8132-0430-8
  3. ↑ Military Lexicon, 2nd ed. 1973, L-No .: 5, ES-No .: 6C1, BstNr: 745.303.1, page 346 “Special troops”, page 401 “Type of weapon”.
  4. ↑ see Copenhagen, pp. 173ff.