Military counterintelligence of the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Soviet Armed Forces

The Soviet Armed Forces, also called the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Armed Forces of the Soviet Union refers to the armed forces of the Russian SFSR , and Soviet Union from their beginnings in the...

, throughout all its history was controlled by the nonmilitary structure. Part of Soviet secret police

Secret police

Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....

 (Cheka, GPU, NKVD, ...) departments (names vary over the time).
The counterintelligence departments of the Armed Forces of the USSR known as Special Departments (Особый отдел) (third departments, third sections) existed at all larger military formations.

Exempli gratia; The staff of a Special Department of a regiment was generally known, it controlled a secret network of informant

Informant

An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...

s among soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

s, military unit civil workers.

TGU (ТГУ КГБ СССР) functionaries were responsible for protection of the military units, important soldiers e.g. commanding officers against activities from military attaché

Military attaché

A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...

 offices diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

s.

Timeline

• Initially there was no common counterinteligence directorate. Various Armies
  Army (Soviet Army)
  An army, besides the generalized meanings of ‘a country's armed forces’ or its ‘land forces’, is a type of formation in militaries of various countries, including the Soviet Union. This article serves a central point of reference for Soviet armies without individual articles, and explains some of...
  
   and Front
  Front (Soviet Army)
  A front was a major military organization in the Soviet Army during many wars. It was roughly equivalent to an army group in the militaries of most other countries except Germany...
  
  s had their "Special Departments".
• Military Department of Vecheka, Военный отдел ВЧК
• Special Department of Vecheka, Особый отдел ВЧК,
• Special Department of Secret Operative Directorate of GPU, Особый отдел СОУ (Секретно-оперативное управление) ГПУ, July 1922
• Special Department of OGPU, Особый отдел ОГПУ, September 1930
• 4th Division of the OGPU Special Department, 4 отделение Особого отдела ОГПУ
• Special Department of the USSR NKVD
  NKVD
  The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
  
   GUGB, Особый отдел ГУГБ НКВД СССР (July 1934 - )
• 5th (Special) Dept. of GUGB, 5-й (особый) отдел ГУГБ December 1936 -
• 2nd Directorate of NKVD, 2-е Управление НКВД СССР June 1938 -
• 4th (Special) Dept. of GUGB, 4-й (особый) отдел ГУГБ September 1938 - Feb. 1941
• 3rd Dept. of People's Commissariat of Defense, Третье Управление НКО February 1941 - July 1941
• 3rd Dept. of People's Commissariat of Soviet Navy
  Soviet Navy
  The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
  
  , Третье Управление НКВМФ February 1941 - January 1942
• 3rd Dept. of NKVD, Третий отдел НКВД February 1941 - Jul. 1941
• Directorate of Special Departments of NKVD, Управление особых отделов НКВД СССР July 1941 - April 1943
• SMERSH
  SMERSH
  SMERSH was the counter-intelligence agency in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially founded on April 14, 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin...
  
   1943-1946
• Third Chief Directorate of MGB of the USSR, Третье Главное Управление МГБ СССР, May 1946 - 1953
• Third Directorate of MVD of the USSR, Третье управление МВД СССР, March 1953 - 1954
• Third Chief Directorate of KGB
  KGB
  The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
  
   by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Третье главное управление КГБ при СМ СССР, March 1954 - 1960
• Third Directorate of KGB by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Третье управление КГБ при СМ СССР, 1960 - 1978
• Third Directorate of KGB of the USSR, Третье управление КГБ СССР, 1978 - 1982
• Third Chief Directorate of KGB of the USSR, Третье главное управление КГБ СССР, 1982 — 1991