Shocked by the inability to put down the popular uprising of 1953 itself, the leadership of the SED relied on the National People's Army after it had been set up in order to be able to suppress unrest in its own country in the future without help from the USSR. This paper deals with the deficits of the barracked people's police for such a mission as well as with the orders and commands that were to be given to the NVA for this case.