Myasishchev Mischief: The Bison and the Bomber Gap

Barely a few years since the end of the Second World War, tensions are mounting between former allies as the United States and Soviet Union became increasingly distrustful of one another. The showdown between democracy and communism is beginning all across the globe as the Soviets expand their sphere of influence across eastern Europe and into Asia. With the Soviet detonation of an atomic bomb in 1949, the United States was on a higher state of alert in dealing with the Soviet Union. As the United States conducted the first test flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber in 1952, the Soviet Union responded by developing their own jet powered bomber designed to carry a destructive payload from the Soviet Union deep into the heart of North America. At the time, the only heavy bomber available to the Soviet Air Force was the Tupelov Tu-4 Bull which was a reverse engineered copy of the American B-29 Superfortress but the piston powered bomber was too slow for Soviet leaders who wanted a bomber propelled by jet engines to carry bombs into the United States. The task of designing and fielding such a bomber fell upon the Myasishchev Design Bureau. 

The Soviet design first took to the air in 1953 before being revealed to the public on May Day 1954, when the Myasishchev M-4 Molot or 'Hammer' flew over Moscow's Red Square. The existence of such an aircraft in the Soviet arsenal took the United States by surprise, completely unaware that the Soviets had been developing a jet bomber. The jet bomber was given the NATO reporting code of 'Bison' following the alliance's practice of issuing names to Soviet aircraft corresponding with the type of aircraft being identified. In July 1955, American observers saw 28 Bison bombers flying in two groups during a Soviet airshow at Tushino near northwestern Moscow. The United States government came to believe that the bomber had been placed in mass production for the Soviet Air Force, and the Central Intelligence Agency estimated that 800 Bisons would be on ready alert by the beginning of 1960. 

On 15 February 1954, aviation publication Aviation Week printed an article describing a new Soviet jet bomber capable of carrying a nuclear bomb to the United States mainland from their bases in deep in Soviet Russia. The aircraft they referred to was the Myasishchev M-4 Bison. Over the next year and a half these rumors were debated publicly in the press, and soon after in the United States Congress. Adding to the concerns was an infamous event in July 1955. At the Soviet Aviation Day demonstrations at the Tushino Airfield, ten Bison bombers were flown past the reviewing stand, then flew out of sight, quickly turned around, and flew past the stands again with eight more, presenting the illusion that there were 28 aircraft in the flyby. An elaborate deception formulated by Soviet military planners.

Western analysts calculated from the illusionary force of 28 aircraft, judged that by 1960 the Soviets would have 800. The classified estimates however, led American politicians to warn of a "bomber gap". The "bomber gap" was a term to define a belief that the Soviet Union had gained a strategic advantage in deploying jet-powered strategic bombers that were capable of attacking the United States. The concept was widely accepted for several years, and was used as a political talking point in order to justify a great increase in American defense spending. At the time, the USAF had just introduced its own strategic jet bomber, the B-52 Stratofortress, and the shorter ranged B-47 Stratojet which was still suffering from a variety of technical problems that limited its combat availability. USAF staff started pressing for accelerated production of the larger B-52 Stratofortress, but it also grudgingly accepted calls for expanded air defense.The Air Force was generally critical of spending effort on defense, having studied the results of the World War II bombing campaigns and concluding that Stanley Baldwin's pre-war thinking on the fruitlessness of air defense was correct: the bomber almost always did get through. Like the British, they concluded that money would better be spent on making the offensive arm larger, deterring an attack. The result was a production series consisting of thousands of aircraft. Over 2,000 B-47s and almost 750 B-52s were built to match the imagined fleet of Soviet aircraft.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was skeptical of the perceived bomber gap idea from its inception. With no evidence to prove or disprove the logic, he agreed to the development of the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady high altitude reconnaissance aircraft to provide an answer to the lingering question . The first U-2 flights started in 1956. On one early mission known as Mission 2020 flown by Martin Knutson on 4 July 1956, a U-2 flew over Engels airfield near Saratov and photographed 20 M-4 Bison bombers on the ramp. Multiplying by the number of Soviet bomber bases known to exist, the intelligence suggested the Soviets were already well on their way to deploying hundreds of aircraft. Ironically, the U-2 had actually photographed the entire Bison fleet; there wasn't a single bomber at any of the other bases. Similar missions over the next year finally demonstrated this beyond a doubt, and at least in official circles that the gap had been disproven. It was later learned that the Soviet Bison was unable to meet its original range goals and was limited to a range of roughly about 8,000 km. Unlike the United States, at that time the Soviets lacked overseas bases in the Western Hemisphere and therefore the M-4 would not be able to attack the US mainland and return to land at a friendly airbase. 

In the end it was not the Soviet Air Force (VVS) that wanted the Bison, but rather Naval Aviation (AV-MF). Though it could still not bomb Washington, D.C., the Bison had a sufficient range to fulfill the need for a long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft. In 1959, the 3M variant broke numerous world records; however, it was thought by the West (and would continue to be thought so until 1961) that the 3M variant was the original M-4, meaning that the capability of the M-4 was vastly overestimated by Western intelligence agencies.Interest in the Myasishchev Bison waned, and a total of only 93 were produced before production of the bomber ceased in 1963. The vast majority of these were modified for used as tankers or maritime reconnaissance aircraft; only the original 10 shown at the air show and nine newer 3MD13 models served on nuclear alert with the Soviet bomber force.

Neither the M-4 nor the 3M ever saw combat service, and none were ever modified for low altitude penetration attack, as the American B-52 Stratofortresses were. No Bisons were ever exported to the Soviet Union's allies. The last aircraft, an M-4-2 fuel tanker, was withdrawn from service in 1994.

So the legacy of the Bison was largely preserved in the aftermath of the bomber gap controversy which through American miscalculations resulted in a massive buildup of the United States Air Force's strategic bomber fleet, which peaked at over 2,500 strategic bombers to counter the perceived Soviet threat. Realizing that the mere belief in the gap was an extremely effective funding source, a series of similarly nonexistent Soviet military advances were constructed in the following years of the Cold War in a tactic now known as "policy by press release." Other deceptions included claims of a nuclear-powered bomber, supersonic VTOL flying saucers, and ultimately only a few years after the "bomber gap" came a "missile gap."

Who was Paul Wieczorek?

To many western observers the names bestowed upon Nationale Volksarmee combat units in the German Democratic Republic are but enigmas lost to history. East German military traditions and heritage often centered around figures of cultural significance and particular interest to the 'people's struggle' towards the progression of the communist movement. One of the most famous of the East German military units with a named title is the 40. Fallschirmjägerbatallion which was granted the title of 'Willi Sänger' after the pro-communist resistance fighter who was executed by the Nazis in the latter years of the Second World War. When the Soviet authorities took over administration of the eastern zone of Germany after the cease of hostilities the use of German communists and others sympathetic to the struggle of communism was seen as a way to allow the German people to embrace the struggles of communism and the exploits of their own people.

Paul Wieczorek, was another famous figure of East German military tradition. Paul Wieczorek was born in the largely protestant city of Bromberg in Prussia on 15 July 1885. In 1904, he and his family relocated from Bromberg to Berlin. After completing his schooling, he took up an apprenticeship in metalurgy becoming a metal worker. By 1903, he enlisted in the Kaiserliche Marine or 'Imperial Navy' of the German Empire. He would serve in the Imperial Navy until 1906, serving among other assignments aboard the light cruiser Medusa. Following his brief military service, Wieczorek found employment as a bus driver for the German company Allgemeine Berliner Omnibus AG. It was around this time that he became introduced to the teachings of Karl Marx and communism and become a member of the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands 'Social Democratic Party of Germany' or SPD.

With the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serb nationalist and the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, Wieczorek was reinstated into the Kaiserliche Marine at the rank of Maat or Petty Officer aboard a minesweeper. Now a committed communist, Wieczorek was reprimanded numerous times by his superiors for insubordination and military disobedience. With the emergence of a new form of warfare, and the advances taken in military aviation, Wieczorek volunteered to become an aircraft mechanic in the fledgling Marineflieger of the Imperial German Navy. Following receiving flight training, he was assigned to a military air station located at Tonder near the border with Denmark. Here he was involved in a plane crash and following a period of recovery, he was reassigned to the Marine-Landfliegerabteilung 'Naval Land Flying Service' at  Johannisthal near Berlin. It would be here that he and a friend Fritz Radtke would organize workers of the Johannis Thaler Flugzeugwerke and spread the influence of communist works amongst fellow members of the naval aviation service and military air service.

By November of 1918, Germany was facing internal struggles and with the Kiel Mutiny of naval sailors in the Wilhelmshaven fleet an increasing wave of descent swept over the crews of several battleships of the High Seas Fleet. The Kiel Mutiny would become one of the factors leading to the November Revolution in 1918. Aligning himself with prominent Marxist and anti-militarist Karl Liebknecht, Wieczorek organized other mutineers and mounted an armed insurrection at the base in Johannisthal. On 9 November 1918, pro-communist sailors and naval aviators as well as members of the illegal Spartacus League seized control of the Flugplatz Johannisthal and arrested the base commander and the officers cadre. Following the completion of the seizure of the airbase, Wieczorek and his group began heading in the direction of Berlin to link up with Karl Liebknecht and his fellow group of communist supporters. Along the way to Berlin, the group encountered armed resistance from military forces loyal to Kaiser Wilhelm II particularly in the areas of Lower Schöneweide and Treptow. Many soon sided with the revolutionaries and large quantities of weapons and ammunition were turned over to the revolutionaries.

Records become scarce after this point but it was presumed that Wieczorek and his men participated in a clash and occupation of the Reichsmarineamtes 'Imperial Naval Office' in Berlin. By the evening of the 9th of November, Wieczorek, Radtke and Liebknecht linked up and and along with Heinrich Dorrenbach a fellow socialist revolutionary and an officer in the Imperial German military began drawing up plans for the organization of armed formations in Berlin. By the time of the armistice and cease of First World War hostilities on 11 November 1918, some 600 sailors that had aligned themselves with Wieczorek and Liebknecht were using the Berlin imperial stables as their headquarters and declared the organization of the Volksmarinerat von Groß-Berlin und Vororten 'People's Naval Council of Greater Berlin and Suburbs. They organized themselves into a group they called the Volksmarinedivison 'People's Navy Division' and declared Wieczorek as their Commander.

From its inception on 11 November 1918, things would begin to rapidly deteriorate for the Volksmarinedivison. In a coup of leadership, Paul Wieczorek was shot dead by Korvettenkapitän Friedrich Brettschneider in the Berlin imperial stables they declared their headquarters. Susequently two days later, Brettschneider himself was also found dead.  The November Revolution would ultimately fail when resistance was put down forcefully, however it would lead to the abdication of the throne of Germany, the abolishion of the monarchy and the transition to parliamentary democracy. Liebknecht would not fare any better suffering the same fate that befell many communist revolutionaries in Germany.  On 15 January 1919, Karl Liebknecht was found in his Berlin apartment and arrested being placed under the custody of the Garde-Kavallerie-Schützen-Division 'Guards Cavalry Rifle Division' of the Freikorps were he was interrogated, beaten and finally shot to death.

After the end of the Second World War, Soviet authorities in the eastern sector of Germany installed the pro-communist regime and began advocating the use of German communists amongst the new government to unite the people under their exploits. In 1985, the East German communist party authorized the formation of a naval aviation wing or Marinefliegergeschwader to be operated by the Volksmarine. Organized under the strictest orders of secrecy, the new unit was officially established on 27 November 1987 at Rostock-Laage. The unit was designated Marinefliegergeschwader 28 (MFG-28) and granted the title 'Paul Wieczorek' on 6 October 1989. 

Oberstleutnant Landstreitkräfte Gesellschaftsuniform - German Democratic Uniform

The uniform displayed here is the Gesselschaftsuniform the equivalent of a Mess Dress Uniform in western armies for an Oberstleutnant of the East German Landstreitkräfte. It would be worn at special social occasions such as balls, dinners or other occasions where social dress would be required or authorized. The uniform consists of a light greenish gray colored double breasted tunic with a four button configuration with the straight legged trousers issued to Nationale Volksarmee personnel. Officers of the Landstreitkräfte wore the stone grey trousers with a white stripe down the length of the leg. The uniform would also be worn with a white dress shirt, officer's visor cap and grey standard issue tie along with military issue dress shoes.

Like the General officer's versions, the Gesellschaftsanzug was worn in two configurations: Kleiner Gesellschaft in which only the officer's academy badge and ribbon bars are worn on the jacket or Großer Gesellschaft in which the officer would wear their full medals, shoulder aiguillette and presentation dagger. As with most officer's uniforms in East Germany, each officer's Gesellschaft tunic was often custom tailored for the wearer.

The picture here shows the Kragenspiegeln of a Landstreitkräfte officer. It is of the silver bar type which is standard to all officer uniforms of East Germany but with distinctive black backing of the East German Landstreitkräfte.

Here is a close up of the shoulderboard insignia of an Oberstleutnant. Again as a senior grade in the East German rank structure it consists of a silver braid with two four pointed gold stars against a black background which signifies the officer's affiliation to the Pioneretruppen which would be the Nationale Volksarmee equivalent of a western army's Engineer Corps.

The four button arrangement of the double breasted pattern of the Gesellschafts uniform tunic. The tunic has four outward buttons with a hidden button on the inside for securing the tunic. On the inside there is also a loop for mounting the hangers for wearing the officer's issued presentation dagger.

Displayed here is the stone gray issued service trousers worn with the Army Gesselschaft uniform. Usually unpiped, the white striping of the pants signifies wear by the Army and is restricted to staff service known as Stabsdienst use, Ausgangsuniformen 'Walking-out Dress Uniform' wear, and Social Occasions wihen they would be worn with the Gesellschaft tunic as displayed.

Oberstleutnant Landstreitkräfte Paraden/Dienstuniform - German Democratic Uniform

The uniform displayed here shows the Paradenuniform or Parade Uniform of a Oberstleutnant in the Landstreitkräfte's Mot.-Schützen, or Motorisierte-Schützen which translates into Motorized Infantry known in western armies as Mechanized Infantry. The uniform is made of the smooth gabardine material in the military stone grey color common of all East German military uniforms. When wearing the Paradenuniform, the steel East German M-56 Stahlhelm 'Steel Helmet' was worn instead of the round visor cap.

Shown here is the distinctive Kragenspiegeln 'Collar Insignia' of officers of the East German Landstreitkräfte. Landstreitkräfte collar insignia were essentially the same worn by soldiers of the former Wehrmacht with a distinct difference in that they were sewn to the grey uniform collar and they lacked waffenfarbe branch colors. 

  

Shown here is a close up of the shoulderboard epaulette insignia for an Oberstleutnant, the equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel in western armies. In the Landstreitkräfte, the rank of Oberstleutnant was the second highest ranking field grade for officers and consisted of silver braiding and two gold four pointed stars commonly referred to as 'pips'  against the white background of the Landstreitkräfte infantry service.

Worn on the right side of the Parade Uniform is the silver Achselschnür or Shoulder Cord which was  issued to all East German officers and worn primarily for ceremonial occasions such as Parades and on the Gesellschaftanzug uniform jacket. The elaborate braided silver shouldercords with pointed silver Metallspitzen or Metal tips on the aiguillettes were originally introduced into Landstreitkräfte service in 1976.

Also on the left side of the uniform, there were certain distinctions that may be worn, but most Nationale Volksarmee issued awards and decorations were worn on the right side of the uniform either in the form of ribbon bars or in the case of special ceremonies a medal bar of the wearer's medals sewn in order of precedence against a felt background which was then pinned to the uniform chest. 

Underneath the uniform tunic would be worn, the grey service shirt and a dark grey tie which in certain variations could be worn without the tunic. Other uniform variations authorized the wear of the service shirt without the tie, and others still authorized the wear of the tunic alone without shirt or tie underneath. 

Here is the officer's brocade belt with East German coat of arms on the ceremonial buckle. It was worn with the parade uniform and Gesellschaftanzug uniform. Attached to the belt was the hangers and Ehrendolch or Honor Dagger which was presented to each officer in the Nationale Volksarmee upon graduation from the respective service academy of the East German armed forces. 

Here's a close up of the ceremonial dagger hangers and the dagger in it's decorative metal sheath.

The intricate decorative engraving and raised East German coat of arms on the sheath of the Ehrendolch and the dagger itself as presented to each graduating officer. Every officer was responsible for the upkeep of their presented dagger and each one was individually numbered with a serial number engraved into the base of the blade where in mounted to the hilt.

The East German M-56 helmet was originally designed in 1942 as a replacement for the M1935/M1940 model Stahlhelm combat helmets in service with the Wehrmacht. The design was subsequently rejected for adoption by Adolf Hitler and never progressed remaining unused until the end of the war in 1945. By the 1950s, with the formal establishment of the German Democratic Republic a requirement for a new German helmet for use by the forces of the Volkspolizei and the Nationale Volksarmee soon arose. With the reinstatement of a new East German Army, it soon became realized that the reintroduction of the traditional Stahlhelm which was worn during the Second World War would not have been tolerated by East Germany's Soviet allies. The 1942 design was likely chosen because it was the most similar of all German designs to resemble the helmets in use by the Soviet armed forces, in particular the iconic SSh-40 design. In essence, the new M-56 helmet was so similar in appearance to the SSh-40 that some Western observers failed to realize its German origins altogether and assumed the East Germans had merely adopted a new  Soviet design.

The helmet was revolutionary for its design with a liner riveted into the steel shell and upon ballistic contact to the helmet, the steel shell was ripped away absorbing the force of the impacting projectile and leaving the wearer to reach some force of cover.

The Parade uniform would be worn with the unpiped riding breeches and the polished black jackboots when participating in special events such as the annual Ehrenparade 'Honor Parade' which celebrated the founding of East Germany and the May Day celerations which celebrated the triumphs of communism. These parades were often conducted in East Berlin before an audience of senior communist party officials including Erich Honecker, leader of the GDR and visiting dignitaries from other communist nations. These parades were modeled heavily on Soviet military parades which were conducted through Red Square in Moscow but with a distinctive Germanic twist. Soldiers maintained the traditional Prussian 'goosestep' straight legged march which was subsequently outlawed in West Germany for its affiliation to the previous regime.

The marching formations of the parades were usually performed accompanying the sounds of a special military band playing traditional marsches or marching songs written by famous German composers of the classical age ranging from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Ludwig van Beethoven.

With the Dienstuniform or Service Uniform variation, the straight legged pants with white piping of the Landstreitkräfte were worn in place of the ceremonial riding breeches and the M-56 steel helmet was replaced with the standard issue round visor service cap.

The visor cap shown here for a Landstreitkräfte officer in the stone grey color of National Volksarmee uniforms along with its associated white piping of the East German Ground Forces. It retains the East German national roundel in the center surrounded by a metal wreath insignia and officer's silver braiding cap cord around the base above the visor.

The Landstreitkräfte of the German Democratic Republic's Nationale Volksarmee was the principle land combat branch designated to protect East Germany's territorial integrity. The Landstreitkräfte itself was officially established in March 1956, from elements of the Kasernierte Volkspolizei which were formed in the post-war years to police the eastern territories under Soviet administration. The majority of the  Landstreitkräfte's equipment over the duration of its existence would be of Soviet design and origin and it's field units were organized along the lines of Soviet Motorized Infantry Divisions. In this respect forces of the  Landstreitkräfte also operated in close proximity to the Soviet Army's Group of Soviet Forces Germany or 'GSFG' which were positioned in Germany at the cease of hostilities in 1945 . The Kommando Landstreitkräfte or Land Forces Command was established in the city of Geltow in December of 1972 with Landstreitkräfte defensive zones being divided into two distinct military districts. These districts or Wehrbezirken were Military District North with its headquarters being located in Neubrandenburg and Military District South with its headquarters being located in Leipzig.

Throughout its existence Landstreitkräfte was never deployed in active combat however, it was often reported that it's personnel went to numerous socialist and communist nations as military and technical advisors, particularly Cuba and various countries in Africa. In 1968, the forces of the Landstreitkräfte were mobilized to assist Soviet forces in intervening during the Prague Spring uprising in Czechoslovakia. The uprising occurred when reformist Alexander Dubček attempted to grant additional rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia by acts of partial decentralization of the economy and democratization. Soviet forces and their Warsaw Pact neighbors responded by invading the country, sending thousands of soldiers and tanks pouring across the border and seizing control of the country. The Landstreitkräfte was then essentially stood down and their deployment into Czechoslovakia cancelled at the last moment thus ending any East German involvement in the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The Landstreitkräfte maintained a force of nearly 120,000 troops of which at any given time about  60% of which were draftees. It maintained two fully strengthed armored divisions, four motorized rifle infantry divisions, two surface-to-surface missile brigades, ten artillery regiments, one anti-aircraft regiment, eight air defense regiments, one airborne regiment, two anti-tank battalions, and various other support units.

The video clip shown here is taken from the German Democratic Republic's state television broadcast of the live coverage of the Ehrenparade celebrating the founding of East Germany in October of 1987. The parade was held in East Berlin, and as shown above you can see officers in Parade uniform performing the goose step march accompanied by the sounds of a military band as they make their way towards the review stand to pass before officials of the SED communist party including Party Secretary Erich Honecker and dignitaries of other communist nations.

Generalmajor Landstreitkräfte Gesellschaftanzug - German Democratic Republic

The uniform shown here is comprised of the Gesellschaft jacket and trousers. The Gesellschaftanzug or Social Dress was authorized for wear during formal or social occasions. The Gesellschaft uniform was worn by both officers & generals and was worn with white shirt, gray Nationale Volksarmee tie, the stone gray trousers with the red stripe or colored waffenfarben of the respective service branch, dress shoes and visor cap. The wear of the visor cap varied depending on the occasion or event attended by the General.

There were two basic ways of wearing the Gesellschaft uniform: the Kleiner Gesellschaftsanzug 'Lesser Social Dress Uniform' was a variant of the Gesellschaft uniform which was worn with ribbon bars and the officer's academy badge. The second variation of the Gesellschaft uniform was known as Grosser Gesellschaftsanzug or 'Greater Social Dress Uniform' which was worn with the four highest ranking medals, gold General's aguillette and General's parade dagger. The jacket itself was the same for both the Kleiner & Grosser Gesellschaftsanzug, only the accoutrements worn differed.  The Landstreitkräfte Generalmajor Gesellschaft jacket pictured here is outfitted for the Kleiner Gesellschaftsanzug. The tunic has a four button double breasted arrangement made with a very light gray colored material which was almost white in appearance. As in the case of many Generals and Admirals in the Nationale Volksarmee, each General's Gesellschaft uniform was completely custom tailored and made. It has the shoulder board insignia of a Generalmajor of the Landstreitkräfte similar to the insignia depicted on the previous Generalmajor Dienstuniform.

 The Generalmajor rank is denoted by a single five pointed silver star mounted on a gold and silver braided shoulder cord set against a bright red base. On the left of the jacket, a ribbon bar or medal bar would be worn each individually suited to the General officer wearing the uniform, with the cloth ribbons being assembled in the proper order of precedence and then stitched onto a cloth backing that matches the overall material of the jacket. The whole thing is then stitched down onto the surface of the jacket.

 The triangular shaped academy badge designates that the wearer was a graduate of one of East Germany's many service academies. The Nationale Volksarmee had a vast assortment of military academies with the Friedrich Engels Academy serving as East Germany's premier military academy. Although some graduates of the Friedrich Engels Academy did rise through  the ranks to attain the rank of the General officers, it was way more common to see East German general officers wearing Soviet academy badges as many were sent to the Soviet uniform for higher education.

The pants of the Gesellschaftanzug, which are generally the same stone gray trousers worn by National Volksarmee personnel with the red striping running along the length of the leg signifying the wearers status as a General officer. 

Generalmajor Landstreitkräfte Dienstuniform - German Democratic Republic

The uniform displayed here is the Dienstuniform or Service Uniform of a Generalmajor or ‘Major General’ of the East German Landstreitkräfte, the land forces of the East German armed forces. The rank of Generalmajor in eastern militaries is equivalent to that of an American one star Brigadier General or in British rank equivalents a Brigadier.  The uniform jacket is the standard stone grey color of all Nationale Volksarmee uniforms with the red colored piping of the shoulder insignia and collar bars known as kragenspielen denoting the wearer's affiliation as a General Officer of the East German armed forces. Generals in the East German armed forces were signified by the wearing of the color gold in their uniform insignias. Gold denoted a General, and silver a commissioned officer. The pants are also the standard stone gray color as well with the reflecting red striping running along the length of the pant leg.

As members of  the 'Parteiarmee" or Army of the Party tasked with defending the people and the Party, all officers were required to be members of the ruling SED communist party in East Germany. Political officers charged with indoctrination of the troops on subjects reflecting ideological, military, and global affairs formed an essential part of Nationale Volksarmee daily routine. These courses were known as Politische Hauptverwaltung or 'Political Main Administration'. Like the Communist parties of other allied socialist states, the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands  known in English as the 'Socialist Unity Party of Germany', or SED, assured complete control over the ranks by appointing loyal party members to top positions and organizing intensive political education for all ranks. The proportion of SED members in the officer corps rose steadily after the early 1960s, eventually reaching almost 95 percent of the total officer corps.

The tunic would be worn with a white dress shirt or standard grey issue service shirt along with a dark gray tie. During periods of warm weather, officers were presented the option of omitting the tunic, or in authorized adaptation omitting dress shirt and tie with only the jacket being worn over service trousers with the Dienstuniform.  The winter service uniform featured a tunic with four large buttoned-down patch pockets, a gold brockade belt, the service cap, riding breeches, shirt, tie, and pants belt along with high boots. A long, heavy, belted greatcoat was also part of the winter uniform.

The jacket also has a hidden loop on the interior lining for mounting the hangers for the General officer's parade dagger for certain events.

Here is a picture of the stone grey pants with the red General officer's striping along the leg.

The visor cap is made of the same gabardine material of all East German uniforms. Unlike West German uniforms denoting branch as the central insignia and then flanked by the national roundel, East German visor caps used the East German national insignia as the centerpiece with the national insignia of a hammer and compass surrounded by wreaths of wheat and German flags. Surrounding the roundel on this example are laurel wreaths and applied with a felt background against the face of the hat. This is unique to all General officer hats as other officers junior in rank wore silver metal insignia. Rather than wear wreaths on the visor like the West German's, East German officer's wore braided cords around the cap reminiscent of styles of previous German armies. The gold coloring of the braid and national insignia specify the wearers status as a General officer.

Shown here is the gold metal Kragenspiegeln or collar insignia of the General Officer Corps. They are nearly identical to the types of Kragenspiegeln worn by General officers of the earlier Nazi Wehrmacht of 1935 - 1945. The East German armed forces borrowed heavily from the previous regime in terms of uniform style and influence all while maintaining a sense of embracing Germanic tradition in the heavy usage of  the Prussian influence.

This picture depicts the shoulder board insignia of a Generalmajor of the Landstreitkräfte. The Generalmajor rank is denoted by a single five pointed silver star mounted on a gold and silver braided shoulder cord set against a bright red base. East German officer ranks were modelled heavily on the existing Soviet rank structure. In German military doctrine, the rank of Generalmajor was generally that awarded to a junior divisional commander.  

The picture shown here displays the intricate design of the  gold buttons of a General officer in the Nationale Volksarmee, bearing the national hammer and compass insignia of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik.  The Dienstuniform consisted primarily of a single breasted tunic with four buttons along the centerline and corresponding buttons mounted on the pockets.

A picture of the General Officer Corps red waffenfarbe stripe embroidered around the cuff of the uniform sleeve.

On the right side of the chest is an Academy badge denoting the officer school that the General attended. The Nationale Volksarmee maintained an extensive network of schools and academies focused on improving the technical expertise of its commissioned officers. One of the main areas of focus with increasing responsibility was increased focus on political reliability and the teachings of Karl Marx. Officers becoming Generals in the East German rank structure were often sent to educational institutions in the Soviet Union for enhanced training and language training to become fluent in the Soviet Cyrillic language.