Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment ( German : " Wachregiment " Feliks E . Dzierzynski " " ) was an elite motorized rifles regiment under the command of the Ministry for State Security of the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ) . It was named in honor of Felix Dzerzhinsky , founder of the Soviet secret police . Being the only highly visible part of the feared Stasi , it was very unpopular within the population . Mission . Its major task was the protection of the party , especially its buildings in the GDR capital of East Berlin as well as the security of the party leaders ' residential compound in Wandlitz , near Berlin . Per Soviet practice , the regiment was a politically reliable internal security force that could be deployed to suppress rebellion and unrest . Organization . The Regiment was subdivided into commands as of 1980 to 1989 : The site was acquired by the Ahrensfelde guard regiment until mid - January 1989 . Until then he had formed of accommodation facility for UAV units of the Ministry for State Security ( e . g . , backup units of VRD , BDL , HA VI , AGMS ) . These units were uniformed as well as the guard and security units of the counties of the Stasi ( BV ) no subdivision of the guards regiment . Part of these units were merged in January 1989 into the guard regiment , which is why the site was taken over by the Ahrensfelde guard regiment . Until 1989 , the guard regiment had no " locations in the districts . The service objects there were guarded by the WSE , which were placed under the respective BV . Personnel Strength . The personnel strength of the regiment : Senior Management . Commanders of the guards regiment were : Recruitment and training . Guard regiment in the military service was completed as WED ( abbr . " Wehrersatzdienst " , alternative military service ) . The term of service for conscripts was three years . Was convened in contrast to the army ( see National People ' s Army ) in April and September / October , a month earlier . For military service in the guard regiment were exclusively recruits from a particularly politically reliable force families moved in , with an express wish of the conscripts only in some cases played a role . Basically , any recruits have already been selected by the appropriate MfS county and district offices and then the convening authority ( district military command ) mentioned as possible contenders for the guard regiment in Berlin . The recruits took place in the majority of cases no preliminary , but they were relevant to the Stasi - circuit or district office ordered , where all subjects were tested for their political reliability , and to them a three - year military service was proposed . This selection for " Three - year " always had its beginnings in the military district headquarters of the districts which had the leading survey of all vintages to be recovered within the GDR . Against the elitist preselected by the Stasi could not defend or county . Military district denied . The Stasi inspected in principle , all conscripts who had agreed to a three - year military service , and selected out of this stock its recruits . The guard regiment no reservists were deployed , which means that soldiers who had completed their service in the WR was recovered is usually not returned to the WR . Many conscripts in Adlershof traditionally decorated the fence of the building next door to them ( Deutscher Fernsehfunk ; East German TV broadcasting ) with the padlocks from their lockers when they were dismissed . These locks were removed every year . Equipment . It received the same training and equipment as the Alert Police and some of its personnel were paratrooper s . It was also equipped with modern armored fighting vehicle s and armored personnel carriers , anti - tank guns , anti - aircraft weapons and mortars . The guard regiment was equipped with small arms ( pistol Makarov , Walther PP , PM - 63 RAK , Kalashnikov AK - 47 , AK - 74 , LMG , RPG - 7 ) to light armored personnel carriers ( SPW 60 PB , SPW , 70 , PSH ) . Stationed in the command 3 ( on military Teupitz - cones ) , there was also a battalion of special weapons . It consisted of a company , which was armed with heavy anti - tank recoilless gun SPG - 9 ( in 1987 , was reorganized into a rifle company ) , a company which is an essential weapon , the heavy machine gun ( HMG - company ) and had the 70mm - anti - aircraft missile armed " Strela - 2 ' Company . Until 1982 there was also an artillery detachment armed with 122mm howitzer D30 . Previously they had 85 - mm PaK D - 44 , and 82mm mortars and 120 mm in the stock . Regulator s company RSK was additionally can be equipped with the AKS74 around the shoulder stock to collapse . At least in the 1970s , the former intelligence battalion , the mortar batteries and the I - battalion with Kalashnikovs in the S version were equipped . Specialized units such as the honor companies ( 28 . and 29 MSK of the 10th MSB ) were fitted in addition to the above - mentioned weapons , rifles and sabers . The paratrooper company , located in the reconnaissance battalion also used the small Skorpion machine pistol from Czechoslovakia . Transportation . Personnel transport were mainly prepared by W50 and the Ural trucks . In line with this design the vehicles of the army , however , bore the registration plates of the People ' s Police , with the letters stacked VP . When events were Ikarus buses used . Additional equipment . For large events , there were as accessories batons ( flexible ) , down from 1989 shields and helmets and chains . Uniforms . Its uniforms were nearly identical to those of the those of National People ' s Army ( NVA ) and were distinguished primarily by the dark red MfS service color of its insignia and by an honorary cuffband on the left sleeve bearing the regiment ' s name . Other Stasi officers wore a similar uniform , but without the cuffband . Members were selected from among the most reliable volunteer recruits and had to perform a three - year minimum service tour . The service or dress uniform of the regiment was an army uniform made of high quality ( of officers ) with claret fabric collar and brown ( officer ) leather belt . The left sleeve was fitted with a cuffband and the words " wachregiment F . Dzerzhinsky " . Soldiers of the MOS units typically had the following personal uniforms : In command 4 - Eberswalde - Finow in Bernau contributed UAZ , professional officers and professional officers uniforms of the regular army with weapons Color black ( pioneers ) and ( white Motorized Rifle ) to camouflage the Wachregimentseinsatzes . The UAZ wore the army uniform from the rough cloth . Other guard units . The regiment was one of three guards regiments in the GDR . The other two were units of the regular army :