Lone Sentry: TM-E 30-451 Handbook on German Military Forces: Corps Area Headquarters Organization: Functions of the Corps Area: The German Military System

CHAPTER I. THE GERMAN MILITARY SYSTEM

Section V. FUNCTIONS OF THE CORPS AREA

3. Corps Area Headquarters Organization

The various responsibilities of the corps area commander and the corps area headquarters are reflected in the composition and functions of his regular staff and attached special command staffs.

In principle, the staff is organized like any normal corps staff. The differences result from the fact that it has, not an operational, but a replacement mission; furthermore it is not a mobile, but a static organization. Thus, for example, Section I b, which in a field unit handles supply of equipment and ammunition, is in this case also responsible for the supply of manpower and for sending replacements to the Field Army; Section I c, normally. intelligence, is not primarily concerned with obtaining information about the enemy but with counterintelligence and security; and Sections II, personnel, and IV a, administration, are expanded, Section II serving also as the depository for personnel records while Section IV a is incorporated into the large and semi-autonomous organization of the Corps Area Administration (Wehrkreisverwaltung).

The staff is headed by a Chief of Staff (Chef des Stabes) and includes the following sections:

Section I is responsible for such matters as training, quarters, air raid protection, gas defense, transportation, training films, surveying and mapping, engineer units, and technical supervision of utilities in military installations.

Signal matters are handled in the I a Section by the Commander of Signal Troops (Kommandeur der Nachrichtentruppen). He in turn has a staff of his own concerned with training, activation, and replacement of signal units, supervision of radio traffic, static telephone installations, signal equipment, and female auxiliaries.

Section I b handles the supply of ordnance equipment and ammunition for units stationed in the corps area. As an echelon in the control of manpower, this section supervises the conscription offices (Wehrersatzdienststellen) and is responsible for issuing the orders for the transfer of replacements to units of the Field Army in response to their requisitions.

Section I c handles counterintelligence and security to the limited extent that the corps area headquarters participates in these activities. It also is concerned with Armed Forces propaganda and press relations, as well as the training and employment of interpreters. Formerly this section also handled troop welfare, morale building, and recreational activities; later, these became the responsibility of the National-Socialist Guidance Officer (Nationalsozialistischer Führungsoffizier) who is an independent staff officer in charge of a newly created section of the staff.

Section II, the personnel section, is divided into Subsections II a, dealing with officer personnel, and II b, concerned with enlisted personnel. Subsection II a keeps individual records for all professional officers regardless of where they are employed and handles the recruiting of officer candidates and awards of decorations. Subsection II b deals with transfers and detachment of individual enlisted men to schools or for other duty. It does not keep individual records for enlisted personnel, as these are kept by the conscription offices. It also handles the recruiting of potential officer and noncommissioned officer candidates (Annahmestellen für den Führernachwuchs), deferment of essential workers, and furloughs and discharges.

Section III is headed by the corps judge (Korpsrichter); however the corps area headquarters is not an important echelon for legal matters.

Section IV a, administration, is headed by the Korpsintendant who at the same time has charge of the Corps Area Administration (Wehrkreisverwaltung).

Section IV b is headed by the Deputy Corps Surgeon (Stellvertretender Korpsarzt, also called Wehrkreisarzt), who advises the commander on, medical questions and has a staff of his own. Under him special medical officers (Truppenärzte) supervise discharges for medical reasons which are handled through army discharge bureaus (Heeresentlassungsstellen).

Section IV c is the Deputy Corps Veterinarian (Stellvertretender Korpsveterinär, also called Wehrkreisveterinär), who has his own separate staff.

Section IV d comprises the Protestant and Catholic corps area chaplains (Wehrkreispfarrer).

Motor transport (Heeres-Motorisierung) is handled by a separate staff section, sometimes called Section V or referred to as the Corps Area Motor Transport Officer (Wehrkreiskraftfahroffizier). It deals with the issue of licenses for military drivers and vehicles; allocation and distribution of military vehicles, tires, equipment, gasoline, and oil; traffic control; and the supply of vehicles.

Independently of this section there exists a Commander of Motor Maintenance Troops (Kommandeur der Kraftfahrparktruppe), who controls motor maintenance training units, motor maintenance and repair parks, and parks for spare parts and tires. This commander is sometimes, if not always, the same man as the Corps Area Motor Transport Officer.

On the staff of each corps area headquarters a Section F, Welfare (Fürsorge), controls the activities of welfare officers (Fürsorge-Offiziere) who give advice and assistance to professional soldiers who are discharged or about to be discharged. All discharged non-professional soldiers are taken care of by the Ministry of Labor.

This section represents that part of the German Welfare and Pensions (Fürsorge und Versorgung) organization which is administered by the corps area commander. The other part, Pensions (Versorgung), is handled on a different level, the chain of command going from the Armed Forces High Command to one of three regional Welfare Groups (Versorgungsgruppen) which are located at Berlin, Breslau, and Munich. These control the Welfare and Pension Offices (Fürsorge- und Versorgungsämter), of which there is one in each corps area. These offices, which-do not form part of the corps area organization, grant pensions for discharged professional soldiers and their dependents. The reason for the separation of these offices from the control of the corps area commander is the desire to achieve uniformity in the administration of pensions throughout the entire Reich.

Attached to the staff of each corps area headquarters is a Commander of Prisoners of War (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Wehrkreis ...), who is in charge of all prisoner of war camps in the corps area. He controls camps for officers (Offizierslager or Oflag) and camps for enlisted personnel (Mannschafts-Stammlager or Stalag), both types being designated by the Roman numeral of the corps area and distinguished by letters, as XII A, B, etc.

The Commander of Military Police Patrols (Kommandeur des Streifendienstes) is the superior of all road and railway patrols. He is directly subordinate to the corps area commander and works in close liaison with the garrison commanders.

The Officer for Military Economic Affairs (Wehrwirtschaftsoffizier) handles, for the corps area commander, all questions of military economics having a territorial bearing; he is at the same time a direct representative of the Armed Forces Economic Office in the Armed Forces High Command and liaison officer to the regional armament inspectorates (Rüstungsinspektionen) of the Ministry for Armaments and War Production (Ministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion).

TM-E 30-451 Handbook on German Military Forces		LoneSentry.com