The National People's Army was a branch of the military of East Germany. In 1974, East German soldiers guarded the borders between West and East Berlin with orders to shoot any would-be escapees on sight. The guards stationed at Brandenburg Gate discovered Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln outside the Soviet embassy and pursued them, but they escaped. (TOS novel: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1) The official name of the East German army is never given in the novel and is derived from real-world sources.