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

CHAPTER I. THE GERMAN MILITARY SYSTEM

Section V. FUNCTIONS OF THE CORPS AREA

5. Corps Area Administration

a. GENERAL. All administrative matters in the German Army are controlled at the top by the Army Administration Office (Heeresverwaltungsamt) in the Army High Command. Under this office the administrative agencies within Germany are organized on a territorial basis, with the Corps Area Administration (Wehrkreisverwaltung) as the next lower echelon. Below this, these matters are handled by the local garrison administrations (Heeres-Standortverwaltungen) and other specialized types of local administrative agencies. This entire system operates independently of the tactical chain of command. The word "administration" (Verwaltung) in the German Army covers primarily pay, rations, clothing, and billeting.

b. DUAL POSITION OF THE CORPS AREA ADMINISTRATION. The degree of independent authority of the Corps Area Administration in carrying out its duties depends on the nature of the subject matter, which is divided into two basic categories: those in which the Corps Area Administration acts independently of the Corps Area Headquarters and is responsible only to the Army Administration Office, and those in which it acts on the orders of the corps area commander. In the latter type of subject, the Corps Area Administration functions as the IV a, or administrative section, of the corps area staff, and these subjects are usually referred to as "IV a matters". They are mostly matters connected with the administration of the corps area headquarters itself or of the units directly subordinate to it.

The matters in which the Corps Area Administration acts independently are those which derive from its status as a responsible echelon in the territorial administrative structure. In these matters it has its own direct administrative channels, upwards to the Army Administration Office and downwards to the local garrison administrations. They include the following categories:

Pay, accounting, social insurance, and allowances.

Procurement, storage, and issue of utensils and general equipment.

Supervision of the handling of food in processing plants and in the ration depots.

Billeting, so far as it is not determined by the military decision of the corps area commander.

Building and civilian contracts.

Personnel matters of all administrative officers in the Corps Area Administration, its subordinate agencies, and Field Army units maintained by the corps area.

Training of administrative officers. In principle this separation into "IV a matters" and independently handled administrative matters is carried down to the lowest administrative echelons, although the scope of their independent authority is less comprehensive than that of the Corps Area Administration. This basic division of the administrative authority is characteristic of the dual functions and responsibilities of the administrative service of the German Army.

The head of the Corps Area Administration is an administrative officer in the Special Troop Service (Truppensonderdienst) with the title Korpsintendant who is at the same time the head of Section IV a of the staff of the corps area commander. As head of the Corps Area Administration the Korpsintendant is directly subordinate to the Army Administration Office; as a staff officer he is subordinate to the commanding general.

c. FUNCTIONS OF THE CORPS AREA ADMINISTRATION. The principal function of the Corps Area Administration consists in supervising the various local offices in the corps area which constitute the executive organs of administration. The local administrative offices are:

Army garrison administrations (Heeres-Standortverwaltungen).

Army ration main depots (Heeres-Verpflegungshaupfämter) and army ration depots (Heeres-Verpflegungsämter).

Hospital administrations (Lazarettverwaltungen).

Clothing offices (Bekleidungsämter).

Construction offices (Heeresbauämter).

Administrative offices of units of battalion or higher status located in the corps area (Zahlmeistereien) .

An additional function of the Corps Area Administration is auditing the accounts of the battalion administrative officers (Truppenzahlmeister) of Field Army units affiliated with the corps area, wherever they are located. It may issue instructions to these officers, but they are technically subordinate not to it but to the Field Army administrative headquarters at higher echelons.

The Corps Area Administration is also responsible for personnel matters of administrative officers in units affiliated with the corps area and serves as their replacement unit. It also trains such officers.

d. ORGANIZATION OF THE CORPS AREA ADMINISTRATION. Corresponding to its responsibilities the Corps Area Administration is subdivided into the following sections (Sachgebiete):

Section A: Fiscal matters; interpretation of pay regulations; travel, moving, and transportation allowances; welfare and pensions; vocational schools of the Army; office equipment; libraries; general rules for cashiers, bookkeepers, and auditors; office regulations for paymasters.

Section B: For the duration of the war this section is known as the auditing office (Abrechnungsintendantur). It audits the accounts of unit paymasters in the field and of ordnance installations in the corps area.

Section C: Rations; procurement, administration, and issue of rations through the ration depots; procurement of forage for the remount depots; bakeries; troop-kitchens; ration supply for the troops while on maneuvers; auditing of the accounts of the ration depots and of those garrison administrations with a "rations" department; auditing of the accounts of the remount depots.

Section D: Supervision of the garrison administrations ; auditing of their accounts; billeting; administration of real estate.

Section E: Administration of hospitals; auditing of their accounts; questions concerning civilian workers; legal matters so far as not dealt with in any of the other sections; clothing; supervision of clothing depots and auditing of their accounts.

Section F: Construction matters; supervision of the construction offices; civilian contracts.

Section G : Procurement of living quarters for members of the staff of the Corps Area Administration.

Section P: (P I) Personnel matters of the administrative officers. (P II) Personnel matters of civilian workers.

e. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS. Comparable with the Corps Area Administrations, but in a special position, is the Administration for Central Army Tasks (Verwaltung für Zentralaufgaben des Heeres). This office is organized in the same way as the Corps Area Administrations and carries out the administration for OKH-controlled establishments in Corps Area III such as demonstration units, army specialist schools, academies, and other institutions.

f. SUBORDINATE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES. Of the various local administrative agencies subordinate to the Corps Area Administration, those which deal with rations and clothing form part of the organization of supply and are therefore dealt with in detail in Chapter VI below.

The most important of the remaining local offices are the garrison administrations (Heeres-Standortverwaltungen).

As a rule there is a garrison administration in every garrison and on every maneuver area; it is always designated by the name of the garrison town. Large cities may have more than one garrison administration.

The head of the garrison administration is an administrative officer who is appointed by the Army High Command and who is directly subordinate to the Korpsintendant. The head of the garrison administration is not on the staff of the garrison commander, and there is no subordination of the garrison administration to the garrison commander. The two are expected to cooperate closely, but in practice this dual authority leads at times to difficulties which have to be adjusted by agreement between the Corps Area Administration and the corps area commander.

The garrison administration normally consists of the following departments:

Real estate management (Grundstücksverwaltung).

Garrison finance office (Heeresstandortkasse).

Pay records for civilian workers (Standortlohnstelle).

Pay records for soldiers (Standortgebührnisstelle).

Utensils and general equipment depot (Gerätelager).

The real estate department handles the main task of the garrison administration, which is the management and utilization of the real estate including training area, and the erection, maintenance, and administration of the buildings and other installations owned or rented by the Army. Excluded from these are the garrison hospitals (Standortlazarette) and the installations of the remount depots, which are taken care of by these organizations themselves.

The garrison finance office has the task of making payments and keeping books and accounts for the garrison administration and the construction offices (Heeresbauämter). It also keeps the surplus cash for other local offices of the Army. Affiliated with a garrison finance office are all small unit pay offices (Zahlstellen) and branch pay offices (Nebenzahlstellen), which are only allowed to make cash payments and which therefore use the garrison finance office for other types of payment.

The pay office for civilian workers keeps the pay records for these groups and instructs the garrison finance office to make the corresponding payments.

The department handling pay records of soldiers in the field determines the regular service pay (Wehrmachtbesoldung for professional soldiers and Kriegsbesoldung for all other soldiers) and makes the corresponding payments through the garrison finance office to their accounts or dependents.

The utensils and general equipment depots store tools, utensils, and office equipment used in barracks and other installations. Such utensils and general equipment are procured by the Corps Area Administration, which orders one or several of the larger garrison administrations to effect the purchases for the entire area and store the goods.

Another type of local administrative agency is the hospital administration (Lazarettverwaltung). This is subordinate to the Corps Area Administration as well as to the medical officer in charge of the hospital. It deals independently, under the supervision of the Corps Area Administration, with payments, bookkeeping, and accounting for the hospital. In its concern for the medical personnel, officials, and hospitalized soldiers in matters of pay, rations, and clothing it occupies the same position as the administrative office (Zahlmeister) of a unit staff. With regard to the administration of the real estate and buildings belonging to the hospital it has the same responsibilities as the garrison administration has for other property.

Army construction offices (Heeresbauämter and Heeresneubauämter) are established by the Army High Command, which also appoints the head of the office and determines the size of his staff. The work of the construction offices is supervised by the Director of Construction (Section F) in the Corps Area Administration. Within their district Army construction offices deal with the technical side of the construction, repair, and maintenance of buildings owned or rented by the Army and give advice to the other administrative agencies.

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