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East Germany Reserves and Mobilization
Under law the Council of State is empowered to declare a
republicwide "state of defense" in the event of an international
crisis or an internal or external threat to security. Under such
a declaration, the National Defense Council can declare either
partial or total mobilization. The principal purpose of the
mobilization is apparently to reinforce the Rear services of the
NVA rather than to create additional combat units.
Of particular importance to mobilization are the transport,
postal, and communications systems. During mobilization the
government is able to transfer these functions rapidly from
support of the civilian economy to support of military
operations. Essentially mobilization is best understood in terms
of militarizing the entire country. The National Defense Council,
which includes the senior leadership of the SED and the
government, assumes military command over all administrative,
economic, and social apparatuses of the country. Under the
defense law, "every able-bodied citizen, in the event of a state
of defense, can be required to serve in or beyond his place of
residence." It should be noted that this requirement is beyond
the statutory obligation for military service.
The reserve system maintains an inventory of trained manpower
for expansion of the armed forces or for replacing casualties in
the event of war. All men between the ages of eighteen and fifty
automatically belong to the reserves if they are not on active
duty. Reserves are organized into two classes--Reserve I and
Reserve II. The first category includes all men under age thirtyfive who are not serving in the NVA, former company grade
officers and NCOs under age thirty-five, and former field grade
officers under age sixty. The second reserve category includes
former company grade officers between ages thirty-five and sixty,
former NCOs between ages thirty-five and fifty (in certain cases
to age sixty), and all other men between ages thirty-five and
fifty who have not served in the NVA. The main reserve group is
Reserve I, which reinforces combat units. Reserve II, which would
probably only be activated in event of total mobilization, is
charged with reinforcing units of the rear services. In 1987 the
total size of the reserve was estimated to be 400,000.
In accordance with the Military Service Law and the Reservist
Regulation, both of which became law on March 25, 1982,
reservists have been called up for exercises more frequently than
before. Moreover, call-ups were in line with the requirements of
mobilization and a national defense emergency. The total length
of the qualifying period for reservists after basic training was
extended, and the role of reservists in the GST's premilitary
training was expanded. These measures should be seen in
conjunction with the NVA's manpower problems. In 1984 there were
6.2 million males between 17 and 30; by 1999 this figure will
have dropped to 4.2 million. In the mid-1980s, an average of
121,000 young men were reaching military age annually, and almost
95,000 men--about 80 percent of that figure--were being drafted
each year.
The new laws also left reservists no opportunity to avoid
military service. Anyone who refused to serve at all, even in the
construction troops, had to be prepared to face military court
proceedings and a term of imprisonment up to four years in
length. Despite the stiff penalties, East German military courts
had about seventy such cases pending in 1983.
Data as of July 1987
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