Gowen Militaria - America's Original East German Specialists

Each branch of the NVA had an integral component that collected and analyzed military intelligence. For the country as a whole, intelligence and surveillance activities were under the control of the Ministry for State Security/Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, or MfS. Known as the "Stasi," this sophisticated secret police combined the techniques of the Nazi Gestapo and Soviet KGB to become an inescapable part of every aspect of East German life.

STASI

Mission: to protect East Germany from penetration by foreign intelligence services, to root out domestic traitors of the DDR (very broadly defined), to provide security for government buildings and personnel, to execute special military operations including overseas, and to provide the Stasi with a combat arm similar to that of a Motor Rifles regiment.
Organization: 100,000 staff officers. These officers supervised or "ran" approximately 150,000 civilian informants. Equipment included surveillance tools such as listening devices, letter opening machines, and small arms for covert operations such as silencer pistols and the small Czechoslovakian submachine gun called the "Skorpion."
Special units of the Stasi:

"Wach Regiment F. Dzierzynski." Mission: to provide the Stasi with a reliable combat force under its own command. Organization: Expanded regiment numbering around 10,000 elite (Guard) troops. The unit had at its disposal the same type weapons as a Motor Rifles regiment: assault rifles, artillery, anti-aircraft guns, armored personnel carriers, and helicopters. Uniform: Standard white-piped NVA stone-grey tunics with unit cuff title "Wach-Rgt. F. Dzierzynski," white letters on a grey base. Earlier tunics and trousers stamped "MfS"; later stamped "NVA."
Headquarters (or Administrative) Stasi: All Stasi officials were entitled to wear a military-style uniform. Unlike the Dzierzynski combat unit, the tunics worn by the great majority of Stasi personnel had no cuff title on the sleeve. From the mid-1970s to 1989, the tunics worn by non-combat Stasi personnel were standard white-piped NVA stone-grey tunics with white-piped collar tabs and Stasi (reddish maroon) shoulderboards.
Central Intelligence Administration (HVA). Agency charged with overall coordination of intelligence and counter-intelligence activities of the DDR. Mission included operating an extensive and highly successful spy network in West Germany and its NATO allies. The HVA had 4,128 case officers who ran an undisclosed number of spies infiltrating Western governments, technologically advanced companies, military organizations, and financial sectors.