EAST GERMAN   NVA (Nationale Volksarmee)

The NVA was considered to be the most highly trained of the Warsaw Pact  forces.   The highly trained force of well disciplined soldiers, elements of the East German army, were used as spearhead units in Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring of 1968.   The East German army had a number of elite formations for commando and infiltration operations which trained and exercised with their Soviet counterparts in SPETZNATZ techniques.    Some units were commanded by the Ministry of Defence and others by the Ministry of the Interior.

Of particular interest was a special diversionary battalion equipped with American armour.   The armoured vehicles were obtained from North Vietnam following the fall of Saigon.   The diversionary battalion were trained and equipped so that they were indistinguishable from a line of battle West German unit.   In the event of a general European conflict, their function would have been to penetrate deep behind NATO lines to attack targets of strategic importance.