Much of the military education system developed since 1949 has been patterned on Soviet models, with the help of Soviet advisers. This pattern was also applied to troop training programs in garrisons and in the field. Yet despite Soviet attempts to make the HPA more concerned with defense of the Warsaw Pact countries than with national defense, the army remained highly patriotic and nationalistic. Moreover, toward the end of the 1980s attempts were made, despite the HSWP's objections, to partially depoliticize the military.

Data as of September 1989