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[Larry deZeng]

Great contributions, Byron and Nick! That adds two more to the "pot": "for special use" and "on special assignment"!

For Byron: "deceive the enemy" as one of its uses was probably true in some cases, but not all.

For Nick: I first checked under "zur", found nothing, then moved on to "besonderer" and found what I reported above. I did not check "Verwendung".

Here's another possibility on why "z.b.V." was used. The various branches of the Wehrmacht were very meticulous about developing KStNs and KANs for all units down to the size of a Trupp. There is some evidence to suggest that "z.b.V." was used as a suffix for units that did not have standard KStNs and KANs but rather deviated from the standard and the "z.b.V." suffix was used to indicated that fact. For example, a Kampfgruppe z.b.V. had a KStN and KAN that differed from that of the standard Kampfgruppe.

It was also used to designate units that could be assigned and employed independently as opposed to those that were part of an Abteilung, Regiment or Geschwader. That independent mobility also gave them a somewhat different KStN and KAN out of necessity, such as a beefed-up Stabskompanie or Stabszug to handle personnel paperwork.

L.