Oberst i.G. Günther Breithaupt, Ia Officer of the 76. Infanterie Division. The 76. Infanterie Division, under command of Generalleutnant Carl Rodenburg, was trapped in the Stalingrad encirclement. Oberst i. G. Günther Breithaupt died in Russian captivity.

Picture : courtesey of the Breithaupt family. The picture is copyright protected. Please respect the copyright.

What's an Ia Officer ?  

The Ia (chief-of-staff), usually holding the rank of Oberstleutnant i.G.

(im Generalstab), was the 1st General Staff officer of the division.

The main role of the Ia was to assist the division commander in leading

the division. He put forward tactical possibilities and suggestions to the commander,
prepared orders, and represented the commander in his absence. The

division commander would often be away from the command post, overseeing

an attack, inspecting troops or visiting neighbouring units, so the Ia would

remain at the command post to stand in for the division commander.

The Ia was also head of the command unit of the division staff

(which contained the Ia, the Ic - Enemy Intelligence Officer, the O1 - Assistant

to Ia, O3 - Assistant to Ic, and the 1st and 2nd Interpreters). He dealt with

everything that involved the individual units in terms of tactics and command,

including troop leadership, training, organisation, transport, housing,

air-raid protection, evaluation of experience etc.

The training received by the Ia at the General Staff College was extensive

and thorough. Applications could not be submitted to join the College -

the college selected the officers that would attend the College. Selection

was usually based on a ranking in a graduating class from military academies,
and only candidates that were in the top 1% were considered.

Oberst i.G. Günther Breithaupt (left) Operations Officer of the 76. I.D. and Generalleutnant Carl Rodenburg (right) commander of the 76. I.D. and  Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus (center) are discussing the military situation in and around Stalingrad  The man behind the 3 officers is Major d.R. August Ullrich(KommandantStabs  Hauptquartier A.O.K.6)

Picture : courtesey of Rainer Lehmann. The picture is copyright protected. Please respect the copyright.

General staff training was in three stages. The first stage was "on-the-job"

training, during which the candidate was progressively assigned to a division,

then corps, army and finally army group. In this way, the candidate learnt

by direct observation what general staff work was all about. The second

stage was a series of short specialised courses on tank warfare, artillery,

engineering etc., in order to provide the candidate with a broad

knowledge of all types of military operations necessary for good staff work.

The third stage was the General Staff College itself, which was designed

to teach the trainee to lead a division in combat.

In peacetime, all three stages of general staff training took two years to complete.

Social activities were also a part of the training during peacetime. During

wartime however, the training was condensed and social activities were

dispensed with so that in most cases the training was completed in less

than a year. This condensation did not affect the quality of the general

staff officers because all of the candidates had gained substantial combat

experience before they attended the college.

The training and experience received by the General Staff officers provided

them with the extensive knowledge and qualities needed to assist the division

commander in all situations, and - if need be - to take command of the division. 

Thanks to Jason Mark. Please respect the copyright