NVA

NVA is an acronym that can refer to more than one historical military organization. The two most common references are the Nationale Volksarmee, the armed forces of East Germany, and the North Vietnamese Army, the field army of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Nationale Volksarmee — The armed forces of the German Democratic Republic from 1956 to 1990. It consisted of ground forces, the Volksmarine (navy), and the air forces (Luftstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee). The NVA operated under the Ministry of National Defense and was aligned with the Warsaw Pact. Following German reunification, personnel and equipment were incorporated into the Bundeswehr and the NVA was dissolved.

North Vietnamese Army — commonly referred to as the NVA in English-language sources during the Vietnam War. It served as the ground component of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and fought against French colonial forces, then the United States and South Vietnamese forces, often in coordination with the Viet Cong. After the war and the 1975 reunification of Vietnam, NVA units were integrated into the unified Vietnam People’s Army.