STAFF FUNCTIONS AND UNIT DESIGNATIONS IN SOVIET ARMY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600010191-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2011
• Sequence Number: 191
• Publication Date: February 2, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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COUNTRY USSR~Ger{nzny (Soviet Zane j
SUBJECT Staff Functions and Unit Designations
in Soviet Army
ACQUIRED
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NU. OF ENCLS.
lL1S'fED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
1"HIS IS UNE'JALUATED INFORMATION
The following offi.c.~: s have the statue of deputy commandcra
at all echelons:
--CLA5:;1~ ICATION SI;CR~'1/S?rCURTTY ;1F0It'NATIOAT-'
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGEIVCY~~~~~~EPOR
1 ~ ~'~~. ,,':~ ~A'~" I ~31V iR E P~ X3"6'
The Deputy Co~unander
The Deputy Commander for Political Affair
The Chief of Staff
The Deputy Gozdcr of Armured F~v-:eu
T.he Chief of Rea~~ Services
The Commander of Artillery
The correct designation 3s "Deputy Commander" :Ccr (a)
aeove and not Deputy Commander for tactical Matters. His
duties are tactical in nature. The Commander of 6.:tillery
ie so listed and nut referred to as Deputy Commander rr,r
r til~.ar-y . - - - --
a
c
d
of the deputy (2ameRtitP1) to the
rle repxaaautr~ the conmamnder at important aox~'erences and
a~sumea command when the commander iH abr3ent; he dravsq up
programs a?nd Plano for the commander and supervises Choir.
-??-=?='?~ Ca.l=iitiGi;jtus iia d vGf{tv].nt3ti011 a~.de, errand bUy,
and troubleshooter; to put the matter nuccinetly, h~ ie~ the
com{nander'G "boy Fr3d::ty."
S~~~~T
1'0A14 N0. ~~-{iQ
JAIO 1!101
I
~~
DISTRIBUTION
~" r ._..
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2 - stc~~T
There is no position oP Military?K~stis3ar in the A-~.ed
Forces, The oriy person to be so designated is the I~tmni-
saar of a Military Kommieaariat cP an Ublast er Ralor~.
The Military Council consists of the Commander, the 13eputy50X1
Commander for Political Arfair$ and either two or three
additional officers designated as "M.embere oY the Military
Council" . These adcii?~ L~~nal members are not selected Pran-
the remstining ofi`icera 11.3ted Auestion 1, but ars permanent
members with this Quty as their pri:YCipa1 aQSigrsa.ent, At
Army level they saucily hold the rant: of (3ersmaioT,
6 , the ftiu~.ction of the comma..nd liaison office` U
is an ad hoc rather than a T/0 position. Whey the
need arises, :ire ^r3r~ndPr or the chie* aP staff' assigzza
a sta..*f officer Ur 3 chief of arms cr services to rang
out certain epecifleC t2Eks in lower, subordinate 12ead-
gyarters, When serving in this capacity, the of'Piaer
designated serve; as a command liaison officer but the
position is purely a temporar,~ one, created as cor,.ditlona
demand.
7. CYiief of tyre Main Directara~e of the Comma.+:der of
r i lery'0 50X1
Marshal Voronov has beE:~ carried in this positiar. Sor some
time. He has been out of the public eye in recent months
and it has been z?epvrtFd that Col, Gen :a'EDERLIN holds this
assignment now,
8. he Soviet Army follow the practice oP 3esignatirg
un s by the name of their commanding officer ae a security
measur 50X1
~ this is standard operating procedu_Te, On read marches,
for exsanple, the direc;;ional signs will bear the inscription
'"Unit IVANOV" instead of 22d Infar_wry Regt, The traffic
control unit officers are providEd with listings of the
units and their corr~nandera' ramea far the p~.arpose of direc-
ting authorized personnel, itititin the security area
designated at Unit NANOV, or wiiscterer 1t may be, the
numerical designation is used. The use of cou?aanders?
names is also followed in wartime as a security measure.
~ ~LPacers in line unite noamally serve three Tears in
occupied areas and are than transferred back to the IISSR.
This rotation policy is not .followed as rigidly in service-
type units,
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:'~~ ~Pyfi/S~CURITI' I171~'r~~uTnmr~,pT
- 3 - 5~~~`~~~.1
(this three year tour also apply tc offi.cers sta-
Sakhalin, the Kurilc--. Islands; and some i3lands in
t e Bering Sea are co~ZSid~red "hardship posts" with tours
limited to three year:>.. ~c;sts on the mair..land are not
sub;;ect ~o this policy :~i' fixed rotation.
ll. '~-n each mechanized regiment of a
15 .
18.
There are th.re?e rifle, one mortar, ar~d one, i:an_k
battalion. n a 76-?mm arty divizyon there would 'be six.
The T~0 ar?.d E are tee same for both peace ~xnd war. All
mechanized divisions ax?e now supposed to be ~~rganized in
accordance wife. this T,~O and if theJ~e a.re iristances of
fewer battalions it a mechanized regiment it ~;s beca.u.se of
manpower or otl?F;r conaiderrition~ . Each battalion will be
expanded to a regiment and regiments to divisions under
wartime mo~~ilizati~n.
The ri:Cle regimcrLt o_~ the 1;a.r..k d1.vi. ~ior.~. a:Lac r..orstains one
battalion of t~~r..its ?
The motorized batt:alicr~s o:E' "-~trtomachikc.a" (fi:.n.e t?ar~
ri~lc?rg ~ a_rF t:1~.P nr.'l.y v~~_ta 'ln the Army wh' ch :.'~.a1ie the
official designwtiotz "mo~~orized" .
the ccmpcyitioa?. of t:i-,e t?a^lt T?e~;iri'ie:rt :~:L' the mec-
Two ba1;ta dons of m-.3~+ t.,a,nlts;, one b_~,ttalion r:,., of JS?-/
tanks and one battalion of ar~r:~red Tsars.
Self-propelled guns a,r~e r_cE: ~.:~ i.ntegral. part of a tank
r. e~iment but ma;,r be a1: ;;a~~h.ed 1;o t.hc~ tank r?c.~;imert fnon the
heavy tat~.l~ and self-pr~.pe"Ll.ed rr;gim.er~t *"oY~ cex?tair_ opera-
tinr:s .
>EC~;T/s~cU~ITr. rr~o~r~wTlort
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_ The guns
within each lrattalier. m~~.y even 'be of different caliber.
On 26 Sept 41, the decision was made tc awa.rd "Guards"
horrors to certain divisions whi ~?Y~ had dist;irsg~~zisYled them-
selves 3.n batt7.e . Prior to that date, the diTrisiorrs of
the standing army were numbered aerially au~ording to
their date of activation. Some had existed for a long
time. The award cf "Guards" honors resulted j.r. numberir_g
changes in ur_its so designated.
Not all subunits received the Guards title. Only these
subunits which a.etua.:lly tcolti part in the particular.
engagement for which the ~~itatiorr was granted ~?eceived the
"Guards" desigr_ation. :Lrl. theory a med~.c:al batt;a.lior, ccu7.d
have received a "Guards" title
Signal. batt;ali~orrs could a~!~e T?ece ve ~uar? s
ea, and also 'rr?ar,.spor?tafion units.
Armies and cor.?ps were reamed. "Guard," , but t r~~. i1or:~az? die!
not; necessarily curry trarc;~ugh t+::~ a.ll r.ompor~ie_bt u.?~it:~.
Shifts and subsequ~~~r,~t assigaunerlt :~f ncr~r-G~;:r~~::?d.:~ eompcaient:3
did not affect the "Guards" title- of fire fo~natic-s, .
There were about fit~~e Qi~.ie?s i_r. Ge_r,nar..y. T?'ie firs, :: Mechan-
ized Arms, the staff .:f which way:, it Dresden, ~Nras def'i?-
nitely rot a Gua~??du s.:!?tIIy.
The award of "Gua,?.ls" l~c;norw wa43 not only a m~oz?d:l.e builder
but also a morretar?y reward, En1'[.ated per?, or!xrN1 of Guards
onsets received double pay and officers received a 5C1 per-
cent increase. Sometimes this honor was a~va,z?ded tc improve
morale of mPdiocr. e ~rriits, not for distinguished 3ervire .
When the extra pr.?ivilegc- pay wag ,rescinded u,ft?z' the war,
the "Guards" title loss: much of its signific:arxce. Nowa-
days, a recruit or officer assigned to a Guards units is
eligible for the award after three months of exemplary
conduct . Officer3 a~ c given a ~er?tifirate, and entl-y is
made in the records cf enlisted personnel. Per?sonne7. trans-
ferring out of Guards units, whether or not they we~~e mem-
bers when the ur_it earned its citation., retain the personal.
distinction and are per~nit~;ed to wear the Guards badge they
earned. r'or disciplinary reas.oiis, however, the pEr;:~alaal
Guards distinction n:ay lie ~ca~itlldrawn.
s~c>~,z~/sLCU-~r.~rx~ Irr~'o1 ~mxorr'~'~~~~~
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5LCR.F'T~SECTJFtI'1'1~ ~'~IPFORMA't'_TOIt '
the result of acourt-martial which has decreed that he
lose the Gua~rda designation. An officer newly assigned
tr, a Guards unit will, after he has proved his worthiness
during a l,robationary period, be awarded the Guards clas-
sification. An officer is awarded a certificate attesting
to leis right to the Guards emblem and an enlisted. n;an has
the fact noted in his permanent records. During World War
TTY to belong to a Guards unit meant, in addition to ~:rie
prestige, double pay for enlisted men and pay and a half
for officers. This monetary consideration was abolished
after World War TT with the result that the Guards desig-
nation has lost much of its significance.
~an officer to a "Guards" unit retain this distinction
e event he is transferred to anon-Guards unit0
unless he io transferred because of misconduct or as
50X1-HUM
SECR~T~S~CL"~tTTY TiYF'Q~~MATTQN
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