National People's Army

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Flag	Coat of arms

The National People’s Army (German: Nationale Volksarmee) served as the military of the German Democratic Republic.

1 History
2 Utilization of former NVA material after 1991
3 Recruitment and conscientious objection
4 Organization
5 Uniforms
- 5.1 Rank Insignia
6 Relics
7 See also
8 External links

NVA guards goose-stepping.

The formation of the National People’s Army on March 1, 1956 (shortly after the formation of the West German Bundeswehr), was the final realization of an idea which had begun with the proclamation of the development of national armed forces, in which the foundation and military structure was formed. This structure was formed within the larger framework of the Warsaw Pact, and with the guidance of the Soviet Union. Many former members of the Wehrmacht who had been imprisoned by the Soviets formed the basis of the nascent NVA. By the middle of 1956, around 27 percent of the members of the officer corps of the NVA were former members of the Wehrmacht. Of the 82 highest command positions in the military, 61 were held by former members of the Wehrmacht. The military knowledge and experience of the veteran officers who had previously been in combat was indispensable at the beginning of the NVA.

Until 1962 the NVA was an all-volunteer army. After the introduction of conscription, the troop strength of the NVA lay at around 170,000 troops.

The SED had made sure to secure a special role for the party in the structure of the army. With few exceptions, the officers and officer candidates were members of the SED. Even amongst the NCOs there was a higher fraction of party members.

The NVA described itself as the instrument of power of the working class, serving to protect and secure the achievements of socialism from outside aggression. It therefore acted for the defense of the German Democratic Republic, and of the Warsaw Pact as a whole, against expected imperialist aggression. Many of the members of the army were of the opinion that their service was useful to the country, and that they were contributing to the protection of world peace.

A stamp celebrating 25 years of the NVA

The NVA never took part in full scale combat, although the NVA participated in a support role in the suppression of the Prague Spring of 1968. It was initially planned to use the 7. Panzerdivision and the 11. Motorisierte Schützendivision in the intervention. Because of the fear of international reaction to the deployment of German troops outside Germany for the first time since the Second World War, these divisions were never deployed. They instead rendered logistical help during the advance, and stood at the border ready to intervene in the event that the Soviet Army could not quell the uprising. In the fall of 1981, the NVA stood ready to intervene in Poland on the side of the Soviet Army, but it was not called in.

The NVA was in a state of heightened combat readiness on several other occasions, such as in 1961 during the construction of the Berlin Wall, in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, in 1968 during the intervention by the Warsaw Pact in Czechoslovakia, and for the last time in the fall of 1989.

Tatra-813

Late NVA bread bag

The NVA was disbanded in 1990, and its facilities and equipment were given over to the Bundeswehr. Most facilities were closed, and equipment was either sold or given to other countries. Most of the officers and NCOs were let go, with only 3,200 of this 36,000 strong group being retained in the Bundeswehr, with most of these being demoted by one rank.

Until March 1, 2005, time served in the NVA was listed as time “served in a foreign military”. Henceforth, it is to be known as “served outside of the Bundeswehr”.

The emblem of the GDR's armed forces - used for army vehicles

The NVA was, in relation to its equipment and training, one of the strongest armies in the Warsaw Pact. It was outfitted with a large number of modern weapons systems, most of Soviet origin, from which a small portion were given back to the Soviet Union in 1990.

The remaining equipment and materials was very substantial. Large quantites of replacement parts, medical supplies, atomic, biological and chemical warfare equipment, training devices and simulators, etc. had to be disposed of.

One of the first measures taken after reunification was a survey and securing of weapons and devices by former members of the NVA. The federally operated Material Depot Service Gesellschaft (MDSG) was charged with taking custody of and warehousing this equipment. The MDSG employed 1,820 people who were primarily taken from the Bundeswehr. The MDSG was privatised in 1994. Unless the defense material was given free of charge to beneficiaries in the new federal states or other departments, to museums, or to friendly nations in the context of aid supplies in third world nations, it was destroyed.

Left behind were:

767 aircraft (helicopters, fixed wing aircraft), 24 of which were MiG-29s
208 ships
2,761 tanks
133,900 wheeled vehicles
2,199 artillery pieces
1,376,650 firearms
303,690 tons of ammunition
14,335 tons of fuel and cleaning materials

The sale of BTR-60s to Turkey at the beginning of the 1990s (with the stipulation that they not be used in internal conflicts, especially against the Kurds), made headlines. It was later proven by German journalists that these former NVA vehicles were, and still are, being used in regions with Kurdish populations, in violation of this stipulation.

Before the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, military service in the GDR was voluntary, though the Free German Youth and public schools mounted intensive recruitment drives and service in the NVA was often a prerequisite for career advancement. Compulsory service had been introduced earlier in West Germany (1956)—one year after the Federal Armed Forces were established—but the GDR held back from this step until 1962. The reason was partly that the authorities feared that conscription would swell the ranks of GDR citizens fleeing to the West. The situation changed when the border was sealed in August 1961, and five months later the government announced a mandatory service term of 18 months for men.

Another GDR stamp celebrating 25 years of the NVA

There was, at first, no alternative service for conscientious objectors. This changed in 1964 when, under pressure from the national Protestant church, the GDR's National Defense Council authorized the formation of Baueinheiten (construction units) for men of draft age who "refuse military service with weapons on the grounds of religious viewpoints or for similar reasons".

The construction soldiers wore uniforms and lived in barracks under military discipline, but were not required to bear arms and received no combat training. In theory, they were to be used only for civilian construction projects. The GDR therefore became the only socialist state in history to provide a non-combat alternative for conscientious objectors. However, the government took care to segregate the construction units from regular conscripts; fearing that other soldiers would be contaminated by pacifist ideas. Moreover, conscripts who chose the alternative service option often faced discrimination later in life, including denial of opportunities for higher education.

The NVA was comprised of four main branches:

The Landstreitkräfte (Ground Forces) with a strength of 120,000.
The Volksmarine (People's Navy) with a strength of 16,300.
The Luftstreitkräfte/Luftverteidigung (Air Forces/Air Defence) with a strength of 39,000.
The Grenztruppen der DDR (Border troops of the GDR), consisting of 50,000 border guards.

In wartime, mobilization of the NVA's reserves would have nearly doubled its strength. GDR authorities also had at their disposal the internal security troops of the Ministry of the Interior (who controlled the Volkspolizei) and the Ministry for State Security (who controlled the Felix Dzerzhinsky Watch Regiment), and 210,000 member party auxiliary "Combat Groups of the Working Class" (Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse), who were available in times of war.

The highest level of leadership for the NVA was the Ministry for National Defense (Ministerium für Nationale Verteidigung) headquartered in Strausberg near East Berlin. NVA administration was divided into the following commands:

the Kommando Landstreitkräfte (KdoLaSK) based in Geltow near Potsdam.
the Kommando Luftstreitkräfte und Luftverteidigungskräfte (KdoLSK/LV) based in Strausberg.
the Kommando Volksmarine (KdoVM) based in Rostock.
the Kommando der Grenztruppen (KdoGT) based in Pätz near Berlin.

Generals of the NVA
Marshal of the GDR	General of the Army	Colonel General	Lieutenant General	Major General

Officer Corps of the NVA
Colonel/Group	Lieutenant Colonel/Wing	Major	Captain	First Lieutenant/Flying Officer	Lieutenant	Sub-Lieutenant

Ensigns of the NVA
Staff Ensign 1st Class	Staff Ensign	Ensign 1st Class	Ensign

Non Commissioned Officers of the NVA
Staff Sergeant/Flight Sergeant	Sergeant 1st Class	Sergeant	Sub-Sergeant	Non-commissioned Officer

Team-Ranks of the NVA
Staff Private	Private	Soldier

The former Nazi holiday complex at Prora, on the island of Rugen, contains a number of museum displays. One of these is devoted to the NPA, which had used part of the complex as a barracks.