East German Military: Warsaw Pact's Finest

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Most NATO officers rate the East German Army the best in the Warsaw Pact -the Soviet Army included - although it numbers only 120,000 and is made up of conscripts who serve only 18 months as compared to two years for most of the pact armies.

The reputation of the East German Army is based on discipline, thoroughness of training and most of all officer leadership.

The East German Army selects its officers the way the Government singles out athletes with Olympic potential at an early age and grooms them for sports competition. Youngsters with the potential to be military officers are identified while they are still in high school and steered toward a military career. Candidates selected for commissions in the army must not only be physically strong and display other attributes of a good officer, but most importantly, they must also be politically reliable.

Marxism-Leninism is the cornerstone of all military thought in East Germany, as it is in the Soviet Union, where many East German officers receive at least some training during their careers. All military activity is viewed within the context of the defense of socialism against the threat of the capitalist world. Military subjects in East Germany are by definition political subjects, according to East German senior officers, because the two are inseparable as part of the scientifically objective nature of the class struggle.

In recent discussions on military matters at East Germany's principal military schools, officer-students and faculty alike repeatedly stressed the politically peaceful and defensive nature of Communist military forces, the threat of American nuclear weapons and the stubborn refusal of the West to seek political solutions and an agreement for further demilitarization in Europe. #2 Institutions for Training There are two institutions in East Germany that train military officers for senior leadership positions: Wilhelm Pieck Military-Political College in East Berlin and Friedrich Engels Military Academy in Dresden.

The Pieck school, named after the first President of East Germany, trains selected political officers for the army. Political officers serve at every level within the armed forces as deputy commanders responsible for educating soldiers in correct political thought. Western armies have no comparable officer. The 30-year-old military academy in Dresden concentrates more on professional military matters. Its graduates are the officers who have given the East Germans such a good reputation among North Atlantic Treaty Organization officers. But the Dresden school also sees its fundamental mission as expressing Communist thought. Twenty percent of the course is on purely political subjects. #3 to 4 Years of Classes Both schools are similar in organization and teaching technique. The courses last from three to four years and are attended by captains and junior majors whose average age is 28. According to Maj. Gen. Rolf Dietzser, commandant of the political school, the students, who number about 400, study philosophy, history, political economics and a subject called political management. Thirty percent of the program is devoted to Marxist-Leninist military science.

Teaching is divided between lectures and seminar discussions. The students, he said, are graded on the correctness of political thought, clarity and logic of expression and polemics. Independent thought is encouraged, according to the general, ''as long as it contributes to social realism and is scientifically supportable.''

The Engels academy has twice the number of students as the political college in Berlin and includes students from other Warsaw Pact and Communist countries including Vietnam.