The central organ of the People's Commissariat of Defence of the Soviet Union to educate the commanding and rank-and-file staff of the Red Army, to promote combat training tasks and to develop advanced military thought was the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

The People's Defense Commissariat of the Soviet Union is concentrating on the leadership of the combat, mobilization and political training of the ground and air forces of the Red Army and their operational use in wartime.

The People's Commissariat of Defence is entrusted with: – development and submission for approval by the Government of the Soviet Union of plans for organizing and arming the Red Army; – development of plans for the defence of the country and the operational use of ground and air forces and means and the organization of the rear and material support of the Red Army; – the organization of ground and air forces of the Red Army, in accordance with the instructions of the Government; – combat training of troops; – political education of the personnel of the Red Army; – leadership in the implementation of measures to train personnel of the Red Army, both personnel and stock, rank-and-file and commanding personnel; – setting goals and monitoring the conduct of military training of citizens in the institutions of the Society for the Promotion of Defence, Aviation and Chemical Construction, the Russian Red Cross Society, civilian people's commissariats and other central institutions of the Soviet Union; – fulfillment of the Government’s tasks on organizing the air defence of the Soviet Union, inspecting the preparations for the local air defense of air defence points and objects, and checking the state of combat readiness of these points and objects, regardless of their departmental affiliation; – military zoning of the Red Army; – deployment and movement of troops; – carrying out, on the basis of the Law, calls of citizens of the Soviet Union for serving active military service and training camps; – scheduling diseases and physical disabilities, according to which the drafted is exempted from active military service; – manning the army with horseback; – development and improvement of all weapons and military equipment; – conducting experimental mobilization; – armament of the Red Army with all types of military equipment; – supplying the army with all types of allowances; – implementation of the defensive construction of the Red Army; – management of the sanitary and veterinary services of the Red Army; – training and accounting personnel of the command and rank and file; – leadership, on the basis of the Law, of the initial and pre-conscription training of students; – providing pensions and benefits to personnel of the Red Army; – accounting for military stock; – accounting of all types of transport, horse and harness to be trained by the Red Army for mobilization; – verification of the mobilization readiness of industry, the central institutions of the Soviet Union and public organizations; – the production of military geodesic, military topographic and military aerial photographs throughout the Soviet Union; – the establishment, on the basis of the Law, of a regime for citizens living in areas of fortified areas, military depots, training grounds and military airfields; – development of military legislation; – organization of enterprises operating on the basis of economic calculation and approval of their charters.

The People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union publishes: a) the orders of the People's Commissar for the Army for leadership of the Red Army; b) the orders of the People's Commissar of Defense to manage the activities of the People’s Commissariat of Defense; c) the orders of the People's Commissar for the army; d) combat regulations of the Red Army, regulations, instructions and instructions on the combat and operational use of the armed forces of the Soviet Union, device and service of troops; e) the rules for the registration of military personnel and those liable for military service and the rules on the procedure for granting them deferrals and benefits on conscription; f) orders related to compulsory military service; g) the rules for keeping records of vehicles, horses and harnesses belonging to departments and the population, which are to be supplied by the Red Army for mobilization.

The People's Commissar of Defence is responsible for the state of combat, political and mobilization readiness of the ground and air forces of the Red Army.

The chairman of the Main Military Council of the Red Army is the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union.

The General Staff of the Red Army is entrusted with: a) the development of plans for war and the operational use of ground and air armed forces and equipment; b) the development of tasks for the operational preparation of theaters of operations in all respects; c) the development of tasks for the operational preparation and use of communications in wartime; d) collection and processing of military-statistical materials and information on theaters of operations and on the armed forces of foreign states; e) the development of plans for the organization of the armed forces and the mobilization deployment scheme of the Red Army; e) the development of instructions for driving army formations; g) the development of general assumptions for the large maneuvers of the Red Army; h) the development of measures for the military mobilization of the Red Army; i) the organization of the rear and material support of the Red Army both in peacetime and in wartime; j) planning military transport in peacetime and wartime; k) the development of mobilization requests to the people's commissariats, the central institutions of the Soviet Union and industry for providing the Red Army with wartime resources; l) the deployment of storage facilities for mobilization reserves; m) management of the compilation of a consolidated annual plan of orders of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union for all types of weapons, technical and material supplies; n) leadership in the development of operational and tactical missions to improve weapons and technical means of combat; o) leadership of the military topographic service in the Red Army; p) the supply of troops with cards in peacetime and wartime; c) the management of the conscription of the Red Army and the dismissal of those who have served in the military.

The Chief of the General Staff is appointed and dismissed by the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union [See note 2 to the text].

The chief of the General Staff leads the development of plans for preparation for war and combines the work of the headquarters of the military districts in this regard.

The Main Quartermaster Office is the central body of the People’s Commissariat of Defense for the supply of the Red Army with food, fodder, clothing and economic equipment, and for housing allowances of troops.

The Main Quartermaster's Office is entrusted with: a) the supply of the Red Army with food and fodder and household items; b) supply of uniforms and equipment; c) supply of carts, harnesses and camp kitchens; d) development of plans for the supply and accumulation of mobilization stocks of food, clothing and wagon-economic property; e) housing allowance of troops; f) registration of housing funds of the People’s Commissariat of Defense; g) drawing up a plan of non-defensive construction for the Red Army and monitoring the implementation of this plan by the Main Construction Directorate of the Armed Forces under the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union; g) selection and accounting of commanding staff of the quartermaster service and participation in its certification; h) management of quartermaster military educational institutions; i) the preparation of a plan for the procurement of food and fodder and a plan for orders for clothing and wagon-economic property and placing orders in industry; j) management of boiler supervision and fire protection in the Red Army; j) construction of quartermaster warehouses; k) storage and accounting of food, clothing and economic property; l) the development of staffs, timesheets and norms of food, clothing and welfare supplies; m) the management of the development, consideration and testing of new models of military-economic supply; n) the development of manuals, instructions and manuals for the commissary service and the supply of units and institutions of the Red Army; 48.

The Communications Directorate of the Red Army consists of the following departments: a) combat training; b) operational-technical; c) mobilization planning; d) telephone and telegraph weapons; e) radio weapons; e) special equipment; g) warehouses and workshops; g) personnel; h) financial; i) scientific and technical committee d) the secret part and j) the general part.

Sanitary management consists of departments: a) organizational and mobilization; b) medical; c) sanitary and epidemic; d) health resort and child care facilities; e) personnel; e) medical training and health promotion; g) supply; g) financial; h) departments: a) scientific publishing and inventions; b) toxicological and sanitary-chemical protection; c) secret; d) administrative.

Veterinary management consists of departments: a) organizational and mobilization; b) medical and sanitary; c) combat training; d) planning and distribution; e) procurement; e) personnel.

Management of affairs consists of departments: a) administrative drill; b) orders; c) government tasks and the Main Military Council; d) legislative; e) legal advisory part.

The chiefs of the main and central departments are responsible for the combat and mobilization readiness of the corresponding type of troops, for their material support, for the compliance of equipment with military tasks and for the correct use of personnel.

Inspections of the arms of service are the organ of the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union for the verification of combat training and mobilization readiness of troops.

To study the formulation of the training of troops in foreign armies, to monitor the development of tactics and the emergence of new equipment, and to report on all material matters to the people's defense commissioner.

The management of military stud farms is the central administration of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union.

The management of military stud farms consists of the following departments: a) political propaganda; b) horse breeding; c) agriculture; d) livestock; e) veterinary; f) production planning and financial accounting; g) construction; g) supply and h) administrative.

The editors and publishers of the central organ of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union "Red Star" 120.

The Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper is the central organ of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union for the education of commanding and rank-and-file personnel of the Red Army, the promotion of combat training tasks and the development of advanced military thought.

The editors of the newspaper "Red Star" consists of the following departments: a) combined arms; b) artillery and motorized forces; c) aviation; d) military educational institutions; e) propaganda; e) culture; g) the party-Komsomol; g) foreign; h) information; i) correspondent network; j) print and bibliography reviews; j) letters; k) execution; l) the secretariat.

The head of the Office of Military Chemical Defense is Major General of the Technical Forces Pyotr Melnikov.

The chief of the finance department at the people's commissar of defense is Major General of the quartermaster service Yakov Khotenko.

By January 5, 1941, to the Chief of the General Staff, submit for approval the states and the draft regulation on the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army.

The 3rd Office of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union performs these tasks by: a) the organization of an agent-informational apparatus in the army and among the civilian population, having direct contact with military units, institutions, a supply apparatus and individual military personnel; b) conducting investigations in cases of counter-revolution, espionage, sabotage, treason, sabotage in the Red Army and among the above-mentioned civilians, and through searches, arrests and seizures in connection with this.

To establish that the recruitment of agents among the above-mentioned civilians, as well as arrests among them, are carried out by the 3rd Directorate of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union and subordinate peripheral bodies in coordination with the relevant bodies of the People’s Commissariat of State Security of the Soviet Union by territoriality.

To the head of the 3rd Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union, Major State Security Comrade Mikheev, submit to me for approval the structure, staff, staffing and tariff list of the 3rd Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union and its subordinate bodies.

To extend to the personnel of the 3rd Directorate and its organs the operation of the charters of the Red Army.4 9.5 The internal routine, special command training in the 3rd Directorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union and its bodies is organized by the heads of the bodies separately from combined arms training, based on the specifics of operational work;6 10.