Kasernierte Volkspolizei
On January 18, 1956, the People's Chamber passed a bill creating the Ministry of National Defense and formally acknowledging the existence of East Germany's armed forces, the National People's Army or NVA. The NVA incorporated the Kasernierte Volkspolizei, Sea Police, and Air Police into a single armed force with ground, naval, and air branches. The new Minister of Defense was Colonel General (Generaloberst) Willi Stoph, who was also minister of the interior. In 1987 Stoph was chairman of the Council of Ministers and a member of the SED Politburo. General Hoffmann, who was listed as first deputy minister of defense, attended the Soviet General Staff Academy in the mid-1950s and replaced Stoph as defense minister in 1960.