Officers' colleges in the GDR

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Graduate badge of an OHS or an NVA officer at a civil university / college

Officers' colleges of the GDR (OHS of the GDR) were military teaching institutions of the armed organs of the GDR with university status. They were used to train officers as professional soldiers or officers on a temporary basis . The students were officer students (OS) and carried the appropriate OS ranks .

In addition to citizens of the GDR, this training was also open to citizens of other countries.

Objective and duration of study

Officer students of the OHS of the border troops receive flowers from pioneers after the military parade in Berlin.

The training of the officers of the barracked units of the Ministry of the Interior and from 1956 the NVA took place initially in a three-year and from 1983 in a four-year course. They were trained up to the position of company commander / battery commander and, after being instructed in combat, as battalion commander / department commander.

As part of the military training, alarm exercises, marches, target exercises, camps, etc. were completed over the course of all academic years.

In the second year of study, he worked as a platoon leader in the camps for military training . From this academic year, the marching formations of the NVA officers' colleges were usually formed for the military parade on October 7, Republic Day , in Berlin.

In the third year of study, an internship as a platoon leader was carried out. As a rule, the third or fourth years of study also took on the basic training of the newly appointed officer students within the section.

After passing the diploma procedure (this from 1983, after the OHS minister for higher education and technical schools had been granted the right to diploma) and the final examination, he was appointed lieutenant . Then the troop service began, usually in a platoon leader assignment.

Interested conscripts had the opportunity to train as reserve officer candidates after completing their basic military service . After completing the required courses and examinations, he was appointed sub-lieutenant . In the mid-1970s, temporary officers were trained for three years of total service in one academic year.

After at least three years of army service enabled officers to study at the most were military academy "Friedrich Engels" , the "Wilhelm Pieck" Military Political Academy or one of the Soviet military academies selected. There the training took place for further commander assignments or for prominent posts in the commandos of the armed forces up to the Ministry of National Defense . Because of the fundamentally different military-political orientation of officer training, no serious comparisons, for example between the Bundeswehr and NVA or between other armies of the Warsaw Treaty and NATO, are possible.

Military area

The officers' colleges were usually led by a commander in the rank of general or admiral (from university status major general ) who had his own staff.

The commander reported directly
  • Secretariat / Head of Scientific Secretary
    • Officer analysis and control
    • secretary
  • Deputy Commander for Political Work (StKPA)
  • Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff (StKSC) with
    • Officer cadre,
    • Finance officer,
    • Officer organization and replenishment (org replenishment)
  • Deputy Commander Training / Research (StKA / F)
  • Deputy Commander Units / Courses (StKE / L)
  • Deputy Commander Operational (STKOp)
  • Deputy Commander Supply (StKV)

Service unit of the administration 2000 with responsibility for the OHS concerned

organization

The military students had officer student ranks and were militarily divided into companies / batteries , platoons and groups . The company commander / battery chief was an officer in the rank group of staff officers up to lieutenant colonel / frigate captain and carried the title of teaching group leader / company commander (LGL / KC) or teaching group leader / battery chief (LGL / BC) .

The platoon leaders, who were also subject teachers, were also officers up to the rank of major / corvette captain . At the beginning of their studies, student officers acted as deputy platoon leaders ( StZF) and as group leaders (GF). This was evident from an additional yellow stripe (for StZF) or a red stripe (for GF) on the shoulder pieces of the service uniform . At the beginning of the fourth year of study, the platoon leaders with officer rank ceased to exist.

In every company there was a company sergeant who was also known colloquially as a spear .

Accommodation

The military students were usually barracked. Going out, vacation and the wearing of civilian clothes required the approval of the disciplinary superiors and were granted more generously with increasing study duration. In the fourth year of study, housing outside the barracks was possible and permanent civil permits were granted.

history

Formation of central officer schools

Before 1963 there were a large number of different officers' schools for the individual military branches and service areas of the NVA. With the development of the armed forces and the takeover of leadership skills for officers' schools, the first changes were pending. So the leadership of the NVA decided to concentrate training on a few locations by creating officers' colleges for the land forces , air forces , people's navy and the border troops by November 30, 1963.

Training at the new central officer schools began on December 2, 1963 and generally lasted three years. It ended with the appointment to the first officer rank, at that time sub-lieutenant , and the functional title of technician platoon leader. For the best graduates of the year, the appointment was directly connected with the promotion to the next officer rank, at that time lieutenant , and the honoring of the honorary dagger of the Minister for National Defense "with engraving" .

Only the training of pilots to become “pilot engineers”, telecommunications training to “communications engineers” and the training of naval officers took place in a 4-year course. Special regulations applied to study courses for soldiers, for example in the medical service, at civil colleges and universities.

Study admission

The general university entrance qualification was mandatory for access to the officers 'schools and later officers' colleges . It was irrelevant whether the Abitur was taken at an extended high school or on a second educational path. For example, qualified professional soldiers had the opportunity to take the technical or partial high school diploma at the Institute for Language Training in Naumburg .

Indoctrination, competition and awards

As was common in the GDR, the officers' colleges also took part in the so-called socialist competition . The cadets targeted individually acquiring the soldiers awards, such as Best badges , sharpshooter , military sports badge , martial nobility , classification badges and badges on.

In addition to social science training, the officer students were usually members of the ASV , FDJ and SED (at least a candidate here), in exceptional cases members of a block party or non-party. This mainly served the partisan education and training as well as the preparation for the military service.

For this purpose, the student companies formed party groups of the SED, under the patronage of the basic organization (GO) of the respective section and the superordinate Central Party Management (ZPL) of the officers' college. In addition, the student platoons formed FDJ groups, which were instructed by the company's FDJ secretary.

The functionaries in the student companies were elected and carried out their work as FDJ secretary or party secretary entirely on a voluntary basis; this was relevant to the assessment and could be beneficial for a career. Following the example of the Soviet Army, these functionaries were instructed in their political activities by specially trained political officers .

University status

In 1971 the officers' schools were given university status. After completing their training, the graduates were appointed lieutenants and were allowed to use the professional titles of “university engineer” or “university economist”. The diploma law was transferred to the officers' colleges in early 1982. The study period was therefore four years.

The graduates of the military officers' colleges, who started their studies from 1983, received triangular, white graduation badges . Officers who had completed a civilian course at a civilian university or college for special purposes before joining the NVA received triangular graduation badges in different colors according to their subject.

From 1984 female officers were trained at the officers' colleges.

Rank badge

Volksmarine
(VM)
Distinction Badge 1959–1990

The S in the rank badge stood for pupils, similar to the K in the shoulder piece of the former cadet school in Naumburg (Saale) or the K for student at the Soviet officers' schools.

  • 1 bar = 1st year of study
  • 2 bars = 2nd year of study
  • 3 bars = 3rd year of study
  • 4 bars = 4th year of study and officer courses for graduates from civil universities / colleges
  • 5 bars = 5th year of study, only officer students studying at Soviet military universities
  • 6 bars = 6th year of study, only officer students in medical studies e.g. B. at the Military Medical Section at the University of Greifswald

Annotation:

  • without bar = officer pupil during training to obtain university entrance qualification, including partial or technical high school diploma; or in the one-year vocational training
  • Angle in sleeve badge = officer student of the Volksmarine analogous to the number of bars on the epaulets

Overview of the officers' colleges in the GDR

National Peoples Army

Ministry of the Interior

Ministry of State Security

Civil universities

Humboldt University of Berlin

At the Economics Section, civilian students were trained for later assignments as finance officers of the various armed organs of the GDR. They only joined their future deployment organization (e.g. National People's Army) after completing the regular diploma procedure. B. when future NVA officers were appointed lieutenant after several months of special training at the officers' college of the land forces and were placed in their first positions. They wore gold-colored graduation badges.

University of Transportation

Members of the armed organs were trained to be qualified engineers at the Military Transportation Section of the Dresden University of Transportation . They wore blue graduate badges.

Engineering college / college for construction Cottbus

At the engineering college / college for civil engineering Cottbus , members of the armed organs were trained as civil engineers in the military construction section. They then wore the yellow graduation badge and mostly began as a platoon leader in an engineering company. They could also be assigned to the civil defense of the GDR or assigned to the central design and construction office in Berlin.

Medical degree

The training of medical officers in the fields of medicine , dentistry and pharmacy took place

The graduates of the University of Greifswald wore green graduation badges.

Sports, language mediators, rare subjects

Future sports officers of the armed organs were trained as civil students at the DHfK Leipzig. The same thing happened with future military language mediators (interpreters) at different universities (depending on where which language was taught) and with special professions in which additional specialists were not regularly required (e.g. geodesists (aerial photographers / surveyors), meteorologists). They wore gold-colored graduation badges.

Training for staff and top jobs

The training, further education and further training of officers of the NVA, the MfS , MdI and civil defense for staff and leadership assignments from regiment up to top ministerial posts took place at the Friedrich Engels Military Academy in Dresden or one (see above) of the Soviet Army Military Academy.

The NVA's reconnaissance officers were mainly trained at the Military Science Institute (MWI) in Klietz .

Training for political officers

The basic, advanced and advanced training of political officers of the NVA, the MfS , MdI and civil defense as well as special courses for top service positions and generals in leadership positions took place at the Military Political College Wilhelm Pieck of the NVA in Berlin-Grünau .

Degrees and Recognition

Depending on the military service and the beginning of the course, the course does not necessarily end (see above) with the awarding of a diploma and the solemn appointment as an officer: Depending on the length of the course as a lieutenant or first lieutenant and the transfer to units and units of the NVA or other armed organs of the GDR.

The 1B language proficiency tests in Russian taken at the officers' colleges are comparable to the SLP “Russian 1111” in NATO and the Bundeswehr.

The degree Diplom- ... for ... (specialization) at GDR officers' colleges, medical colleges, the Friedrich Engels military academy or Soviet military colleges or military academies is generally recognized in the Federal Republic if the course content, focus and the thesis were of a technical or scientific nature . This also applies to diplomas in Russian with a certified translation of the certificate of study (original designation in Russian выписка из зачётной ведомости / transcription: wypiska is satschotnoj vedomosti).

Ceremony of the appointment of members of the People's Navy to lieutenants. Caspian Red Banner Officers College of the Naval Forces SM Kirov , Baku 1989
Graduate badge

particularities

Officers' colleges of the Soviet Union

If necessary, officer students of the NVA could also be delegated to study at an officers college in the Soviet Union, such as the Caspian Red Banner Officers College of the Naval Forces SM Kirov in Baku, where around 300 naval officers were trained by October 1990. The study duration was usually five or six years including a one-year language preparation course.

The Soviet officer candidates at these officers' colleges carried the official title of Kursant . The name is retained to the present day.

Officers' colleges of other Warsaw Pact armed forces

In some other states participating in the Warsaw Pact, too, graduates of officers' colleges were awarded diplomas after successfully completing their studies, for example in Poland.

See

Web links