Land Forces of the National People's Army

The Land Forces of the National People's Army, known in German as the Landstreitkraefte der Nationalen Volksarmee or LaSK, were the ground-based military branch of the German Democratic Republic's National People's Army. The Army itself was created on 1 March 1956 from the Barracked People's Police, and a Land Forces Command at Geltow was established on 1 December 1972 as a management body for the land forces. In peacetime the branch was organised under that command, and its largest formations between 1956 and 1990 were Military Districts III and V, each normally made up of three active divisions plus training, combat support and logistic units. Wartime plans called for the two districts to form the 3rd Army in the south and the 5th Army in the north under Soviet high command, while the Land Forces Command would focus on supply, medical services and internal security and help capture West Berlin.