WARSAW PACT JOURNAL: COMBINED INSTRUCTION OF SEAMEN AND PETTY OFFICERS -- AN IMPORTANT CONDITION FOR TRAINING NAVY SPECIALISTS

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
0005508938
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
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U
Document Page Count: 
9
Document Creation Date: 
June 19, 2017
Document Release Date: 
June 19, 2017
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Case Number: 
SC-2007-00006
Publication Date: 
February 15, 1979
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE CIA HISTORICAL RELEASE PROGRAM JUNE 2017 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 AR 70-14 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505 15 February 1979 MEMORANDUM FOR: The Director of Central Intelligence FROM : John N. McMahon Deputy Director for Operations SUBJECT : WARSAW PACT JOURNAL: Combined Instruction ot Seamen and Petty Officers -- An Important Condition for Training Navy Specialists 1. The enclosed Intelligence Information Special Report is part of a series now in preparation based on articles from a SECRET Soviet publication called Information Collection of the Headquarters and the Technical Committee of the Combined Armed Forces. This article describes in broad-brush manner tEe East German Navy's organization and procedure for the training of conscript seamen and those conscripts selected to be petty officers. Formerly this training was accomplished right on the combat ships, but starting in 19704971 it has been done in a training detachment with its own training brigade of ships and craft. This journal is published by Warsaw Pact Headolarters in Mbscow, and it consists of articles by Warsaw Pact officers. This article appeared in Issue No. 12, which was published in 1976. 2. Because the source of this report is extremely sensitive, this document should be handled on a strict need-to-know basis within recipient agencies. For ease of reference, enortsfrom this publication have been assigned the Codeword TS #798028 Com. # Page 1 of 9 Pages Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 ? Distribution: The Director of Central Intelligence The Director of Intelligence and Research Department of State The Joint Chiefs of Staff The Director, Defense Intelligence Agency Director of Naval Intelligence Department of the Navy Director, National Security Agency Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Director of the National Foreign Assessment Center Director of Strategic Research Page 2 of 9 Pages TI51:r-SECRZT___ Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 TS #798028 Copy 11, Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 -1Z3?-teeR6T- -Ttt13-beetI1ENT Intelligence Information Special Report COUNTRY EAST GERMANY/WARSAW PACT DATE OF NM 1976 SUBJECT Page 3 of 9 Pages DATE 15 February 1979 WARSAW PACT JOURNAL: Combined Instruction of Seamen and Petty Officers -- An important Condition for Training Navy Specialists SOURCE Documentary Summary: The following report is a translation from Russian of an article from a SECRET Soviet publication called Information Collection of the Headquarters and the Technical Committee of the Combined Armed Forces. This journal is published by Warsaw Pact Headquarters in Moscow, and it consists of articles by Warsaw Pact officers. This article was written by Rear Admiral L. Heinecke. ?The article describes in broad-brush manner the East German Navy's organization _and procedure for the training of conscript amen and those conscripts _selected to be vtty officers. Formerly this -TM:Ring was accomplished right on the combat ships, but starting in 1970-1971 it has been done in a training detachment with its own training brigade of ships and craft. The duration, nature, and content of the training are described presenting little or no substantive information. The favorable results obtained are praised and the importance of Marxist-Leninist indoctrination is stressed. This article appeared in Issue No. 12, which was published in 1976. Comment: The author is Deputy Commander of the Navy for Training. -:r?12-51Cag-L.. Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 End of Summary TS #798028 Copy Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 -TOP-5EGREL Page 4 of 9 Pages Combined Instruction of Seamen and Petty Officers -- An Important Condition for Training Navy Specialists by Rear Admiral L. HEINECKE Deputy Commander of the People's Navy of the German Democratic Republic The necessity of constantly maintaining the forces of the Navy at a high level of combat readiness has brought to the fore the task of improving the system of instruction for personnel. This has required developing and introducing a new form of training for the young draft contingent of seamen and also for the newly-appointed petty officers. Experience has shown that the most effective method, as applied to our navy, has been combined training, wherein theoretical classes are held in a training detachment, while practical skills are acquired on the ships of a special training large unit. Such a method makes it possible for us to train seamen and petty officers effectively for work before they take up their duty positions and by the same token ensure the improvement of the combat readiness of the ships that make up the combat core of the navy. By now we have succeeded in manning the navy's combat ships and craft with seamen and petty officers who have completed instruction in a. training detachment, with a replacement contingent that every six months consists of 20 percent seamen and approximately 17 percent petty officers. After careful evaluation, combined instruction was instituted in the Navy beginning with the 1970-71 training year. For this purpose, a special training establishment was set up as part of the naval school -- the Walther Steffens Training Detachment, which was subsequently changed over into an independent training establishment. Subordinate to the commander of the training detachment there is a brigade of training ships, made up of the ships and craft needed for the conduct of training sessions. The basic goal of combined instruction has been to shift the individualtraining of seamen and petty officers, which had previously been conducted on ships and craft of the combat large units, to the training detachment and to the ships of the training brigade. After completing the training course, they pass the prescribed examinations and receive TS #798028 Copy #4_1_ -TOP-SECRFT, ? Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 Page 5 of 9 Pages permission to independently operate materiel on a specific type of ship or craft. The accomplishment of this goal has at the same time provided for the training of future petty officers as political and military leaders, as indoctrinators and instructors for small military groups. In addition, here the seamen and petty officers are molded into persons who are capable of withstanding all the burdens of military life and shipboard service, who conscientiously observe military discipline, are a credit to the group, and are constantly guided by the views of the working class in all their actions. Combined training is thereby not limited to merely the acquisition of specialized knowledge and skills. It also includes the development of abilities, the forming of convictions, and the indoctrination of character and of standards of interrelationships within the group. The changeover to this form of instruction demanded extensive and prolonged preparatory work. The command and staff of the People's Navy had to resolve a number of complex matters. The allocation of an independent training establishment for the training of seamen and petty officers brought about the need to implement certain structural changes. For instance, in establishing the training brigade, it became necessary to temporarily detach a number of ships and craft from the combat large units of the People's Navy to provide for shipboard training. The introduction of combined instruction entailed the requisite training of commanders, training officers, and instructors. In the interests of insuring a high level of training for the personnel of the ships and craft of the training brigade and of conducting training under conditions approximating combat for the seamen and petty officers on the ships, every year individual ships and craft of the training brigade participate in the main combat training undertakings of the People's Navy and the allied fleets in the Baltic Sea. In addition, there is a requirement for periodic exchange of experience with the corresponding training establishments of the Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet [USSR] and the Navy of the Polish People's Republic, as well as with large units of the People's Navy. Modern demands for general and specialized training in the separate shipboard specialties have brought about an entirely new approach to the TS #798028 Copy L5 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 -.10P-5K-REL Page 6 of 9 Pages development of training programs and to time calculations. Chief consideration is given to practical instruction and working out of shipboard functional duties. This was aided by the implementation of the unified socialist system of education and well-thought out military- patriotic indoctrination of youth in the Society for Assistance in the Development of Sport and Technology [sic] as well as by the broadening of the general, professional, and military education of those subject to military service. All measures have been directed toward improving the effectiveness of the training process. In so doing, one of the substantial factors was to improve the qualifications and develop the methodological skills of the training officers and instructors. In the field of training techniques, Marxist-Leninist training and mass political work was continuously coordinated with the elements of general and specialized training, and a close tie was assured between the types of instruction in the training classrooms, trainer rooms, and on the ships. Thereby we established at the same time the prerequisites for the interesting, varied, and methodologically diversified conduct of instruction. The .rocess of combined instruction is as follows. Every six months at the eginning o y an. lovem er t ose su ject to military service are conscripted as seamen into the training detachment. After a short period for organizing and also the administration of an entrance examination, they undergo a four-week beginning course. Then follows specialized training for seamen and petty officers with a continuation of Marxist-Leninist and general studies. This stage of specialized training is identical in content, form, and methodology for both seamen and petty officers. The specialized training includes the study of theoretical fundamentals, training in trainer rooms, as well as training on ships at the base and at sea. Still maintaining the same instructional purposes and content, the training of petty officers lasts approximately three and a half months, whereas seamen's training, in view of their involvement in the performance of guard duty, lasts about four and a half months. In the final phase of this standardized instructional process, intensive practices according to shipboard duty rosters are conducted on the training ships and craft at the base, in the roadstead, and at sea. Upon successful completion of the training course in the training detachment, seamen and petty officers will have obtained the necessary knowledge and skills to fulfil the duties of a seaman on a combat ship or craft of the type on which they are meant to sail. TS #798028 Copy 1"-5EGF.E.L Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 --TOr5t-GREL Page 7 of 9 Pages With this, the seamen's instruction in the training detachment ends and they are sent to the combat large units. Petty officers continue training in a one-month instructional techniques course on general training, which primarily serves to develop command qualities. After this first half year of training, petty officers undergo four weeks of on-the-job training as commanders of sections in the beginning military training course for the next conscription. For future petty officers, this is the first test of their command maturity as both political and military leaders and as indoctrinators and instructors. Experience has confirmed the great importance of this on-the-job training. Then begins a new stage in the specialized training of these future petty officers (about four months long), in the course of which their qualifications within their specialties are improved and their methodological abilities as instructors are developed. Along with this, they study their functions relative to their shipboard duty roster and are assigned as instructors for the specialized training of the trainees from the new conscription. Such a method guarantees sufficient training for future duties on combat ships and craft. After passing the examination and receiving the rank, petty officers are sent out to actually master their duties on a combat ship. This continues for about three weeks. Next, the young petty officer enters upon a new duty, taking it over from his predecessor who leaves to enter the reserves. Petty officers and seamen for whose instruction the training detachment does not have the requisite training resources are detached for a preliminary period to combat ships for the purpose of acquiring practical skills. The conduct of combined instruction according to standardized specialized training for seamen and petty officers has made stringent demands on its planning and organization. For instance, every half year about 15 training groups (platoons) are activated according to the different specialties (navigation, artillery, engineer, etc.). Depending on the needs of the People's Navy, their number and size vary. It should be added that those groups destined for training on ships and craft of the brigade are often divided into smaller training subgroups in order to insure in-depth training in individual specialties. However, this requires more efficient and centralized planning in the training detachment. TS #798028 Copy #3 _ 1 it S C R f."L Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 -TC7P-5fiCafj_ Page 8 of 9 Pages The efficiency of the training and indoctrination depends substantially on the cooperation between the organs of control and the instructors and specialists of the training brigade. For example, at the instructor level, cooperation manifests itself in the rendering of mutual support, and likewise in collaborative educational influence on the formation of the character of the young seamen and petty officers. To have training approach actual operating conditions to the maximum, we have instituted an extensive system for improving the ratings of instructors, one which includes the accomplishment of. combat training tasks by the organic persamm 1 of the ships and craft of the training brigade, participation in the main combat training undertakings in large units of combat ships and craft, participation in exercises, and temporary duty with combat large units for the instructors. The object of this training methods work with the instructors of the training detachment is to improve their general pedagogical and methodological skills in their specialties. For these purposes, we conduct demonstration training sessions, methodological exercises and training sessions, and consultations among the instructor personnel. For the continuous analysis of the effectiveness of the combined instruction, close contacts are maintained between the training detachment and large units of the People's Navy. The periodically organized exchange of experience also serves this purpose. The experience accumulated in the course of several years and the results obtained enable us to draw the conclusion that the introduction of combined instruction into the People's Navy has totally justified itself. In combined instruction we have found an advantageous means which, as a result of the intensification of instruction, has led to the improved combat readiness of ships, large units, and the navy as a whole. With the introduction of combined instruction, the training of young conscripts in the training detachment more fully satisfies the requirements of service on combat ships and craft, and likewise the direct demands of specific shipboard functions. It has turned out that by consistently achieving the assigned training goals in the training detachment, the ships of the combat core are being manned with well-trained seamen and petty officers. The seamen and petty officers have sufficient theoretical knowledge and practical skills to fulfil their shipboard duties; they are efficient, prepared for heavy physical burdens, can fulfil their tasks TS #798028 Copy #_:3 1-MP-SECRL Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 -TC7P-5E-GREI_ Page 9 of 9 Pages conscientiously, and display a striving to quickly make themselves a part of the shipboard group. The seamen and petty officers are able to service, maintain in good repair, and operate in combat the weapons and materiel of their combat posts or combat units. In addition, the petty officers are able to lead small groups, fulfil their social functions in youth and sport organizations, and also work as agitators in the conduct of mass political work. As the result of purposeful Marxist-Leninist training and political work, graduates of the training detachment develop a high level of political conviction. They understand the policy of our Marxist-Leninist party and actively strive for its practical implementation. Upon completion of instruction in the training detachment, seamen serve two and a half years, and petty officers three years on combat ships and craft of the People's Navy. This system we have adopted for supplying the fleet with personnel guarantees the constant combat readiness of the ships, since every half year no more than 20 percent of the crews are replaced. After each replacement of a certain part of the personnel, the task consists in developing in the shortest period of time the cohesiveness of the new crews of the ships. This period of intensive combat training concludes with the conduct of special tests of the ships of the combat core. The improvement in the training of seamen and petty officers achieved as a result of this combined instruction helps the People's Navy of the German Democratic Republic fulfil with honor the tasks entrusted to it. -i-e5r-SECRCL Approved for Release: 2017/06/14 C05508938 TS #798028 Copy #