ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTION OF VARIOUS SOVIET AIR FORCE UNITS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600030191-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 191
• Publication Date: November 10, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

hLASSIFICATIC?N ~~r~>.Fm
i iV r~JRYir1~ iii Vi~9 ,`~~,i ?~vf: i
COUNTRI' liBSR/~ferna..y ~,5oviet Zonej
SUi'. ;i Organization ai1$ Function of Various
Soviet Air Force IInits
FLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
N0. OF ENCLS.
~LIS7ED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
RE?ORT N0.
From 1938 to 1941 the Avie Baza :ras the sole organization responsibly
fnr ^:ervicing tactical air units. Duri:~ Florid War 1i, i-~!a 19~'_ To
195, the RAB (Rayon Aviats~onnaye Bazirovaniya: kegional Air Basej
performed this function, Bach RAB serviced a tactical air ao-ps ai.3
conaiste3 of nine or t~~t BAO's (Batal'an ?ere'c-romnogo Obsluzhivaniy:
Airfield Sercr'cing Battalion), ea.:h ref which aervicerl a tacti~:al air
xe~iment.
In i~5, ~':e OATD (Otdel'nays Aviatsionnaya-Tekhnich-ekaye. Divizi.ys:
Independen". Air Tschnical Divist~n) supplanted the RAB as t5e
servicing organization for the tactical &ir corps. The T/0 of each
OA3D included three OATP'a (Otdel'nyy Aviatsionno-Tekhnicheskiy
Polk: IndrpeLdent Air Technical Regiment), each of ti?aich serricEd
a tactical air division. .Subordinate to each OATi' there were
several ATE?s (Aviatsionna-Tekhnicheakiy Bate1'on: Air Technical
Battalion), depending upon the number of tactir_el air regimerta in
the division. Bach A1B serviced a tactical air regiment.
111SSIFICATIOM
 Tin: arganlzation was ma'.ntr~ir.ed ??rri'_ l~t~ h~E( cr early 1944, whet:
= '~A1t, which serviced the tactical air division, wen liquidated end
t;he strength of each technical battalion was increased a
three-fold. (The organization of air technical units betweni g451~d
late 1941 or early 1948, during which time the AqB was Comparatively
small and was subordinate to an OATP, was apparently an experimental
arrangement which was not satisfactory to the tactical units and so
was changed.) With the liquidation of the OATP, the technical battalion
wao directly subordir_ated to the OATD and designated OATB (Otdel'nyy
Aviatsionno-Tekhnicheskiy Batal'on: Independent Air Technical Battalion).
In April. 1949 wren let conversion was underway in the 24th Air Army in
Germany,) ~ the strength of the 0
approximately 15~ to keep page with increased servicing requirements of
,)et aircraft.
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serviced n taeticsl air ccx?Fe ani had directly subordinate toeloA~
many OATB's es there were tactics) air regiments for them to service.
Tne $lst GATu,~?wnhlir_y serviced the 71st Righter Air Corps, contained s field distributing
:?r?arc_h of JVJyf4~il Mhoae
Primary funr_tions were three
(a) Paying the salaries of personnel of the OATB and the tactical units of
the corps.
(bl Providing facilities for savings accounts.
(c) Providing Panda for the local purchase oP food supplies by the OATB's.
With regard to (c) above, when the OATB had to purchase Iocal foodstuffs to
supply its own personnel and those of +,he tactical air regiment it serviced,
the foal supply section cf the battalion submitted to the food supply- baction
cf the OATD s statement of the amount of food needed. Having reviewed the
statement, the division food supply section forwarded it to the financial
section of the OATD, The division financial section then authorized the ap-
propriate amount o? money and informed the financial section of the pATB cp
how much trey might draw, The battalion financial eection th*_n drew this a,:.ount
from the field ???ietrlbuting branch of GOSBAI@C nttarhed to the division and
delivered the money to the food supply section cf the tattalion, which then
pu-chased the desired food.
Tar orgatization and fun,:tion of So?riet Air Technical unite iu occupied areas is exactly
the same ~s those in Lhe 17E3SR,
Satt111te tiir Technical units, like t~xeticgl air uuita, tu-e, a
according to the Soviet model. ~anized
'1"1e Independent Air Komeadatura
organization set ~Utdel~naya Aviareioanaya 1to~udatura or pAK) is an
a`::.' unite are ~ for the express purpose of servicing VZp aircraft sad Their passengers.
located only in areas where the traffic of VIP s xould ?1i~rTant their
exiotenee, They are responsible for providing both technical service to Vg, ~.~
passing thrnugh or l.aading is their areas and
aircraft. Thus as a VIP flight nears the airfeld at ~~e~fficisls traveling on such
Komendatura aetablishea radio contact with the plane, traasssits~ the~infu~ti~on to
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tY,e pilot, and issues instructions to ensure safe landing. i~hile the plane is on the
gm~ind, tht Komendatura is responsible for refueJjng it end performing such mainteasnce
r.-~' ~fysir as is necessary for safe flight to the next waypoint. The VIP's and their
crew, meamrhile, are quartered and fed by the personnel of the Komendatura. When the
P11?'s are ready to depart, the Komen9atura is responsible not only for regular take-off
procedure, but also for alerting whatever fighter aircraft are necessary to provide pro-
tection for the flight.
subordination of the Independent Air Komeadatura
A~ Ths OtdC io adminietrntively eubordinete to the WS, Moscow, and operationally subordinate
to the Commander of the pir Army in whose area it ie located.
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The 49th OAK, located. at Dallgox, was the onl unit of this twos in the Soviet Zone of
Germany.
Idietinetion batwcen the Independent Air Komendatura described nbove and the
Air (;arrieon Komendatur~
A, There ie ao similarity whatever between the two: they are entirely e~parnte and distint+,
organizations. The Air Qarrieoa Komcndatura (1Co~^endaturn Avtateionnaya Garnizona or 2',dG)
is merely a police function or disciplinary k25X11? Provided by certain of tF:e personnel
n~ every Soviet air base. The primary function of the Commander of the 1CAG is to a
and supervise MP's who police the base and its surrounding area. Since the KA(} !e tint
organized ea a separate unit from tk.e sir base, it carries no numerical desigaaticn of
its own, Its cemmaader is as officer who has .~ regular duty assignment on the staff of
an air unit, but who acts in the capacity of Commander cf the Kp(} in sddition to h!e
other dutiee. In the 175th Fighter Air Division, for example, tha Deputy Commander of
the Division for tY.e Rear wen also the Comman~,r of the KAG nt Finnow.
the,e is no relationship between eith+.r of the two kinds of Komeu~:atura
described e.nd Air Technical :z,~ita .
SS~CRST~
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/14 :CIA-RDP80-00809A000600030191-7