80th Airmobile Regiment (Ukraine)

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80th Airmobile Regiment

Sleeve patch of the Regiment
Active December 19, 1955 -
Country Ukraine
Branch Ukrainian Ground Forces
Type Regiment
Role Airmobile
Size 1,600 (2004-2005)
Part of 13th Army Corps[1]
Garrison/HQ Lviv[2] Ukraine
Motto Noone but Us
Equipment BTR-80
Engagements Soviet war in Afghanistan
Nagorno-Karabakh War
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Decorations Order of the Red Star
Commanders
Commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Kopachynskii[3]
Executive officer Lieutenant Colonel Ihor Kontenruk[2]
Executive officer Lieutenant Colonel Valeriy Tarakulov[4]

The 80th Airmobile Regiment is an airmobile formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The regiment is part of the 13th Army Corps.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The 80th Parachute-Landing Regiment was formed on December 19, 1955 in the Caucasus Region. It originally formed part of the 104th Guards Airborne Division of the Soviet Airborne Forces whose divisional headquarters was at Kirovabad (now Gyandzha) in the Azerbaijan SSR. Carey Schofield writes that the 104th Guards Airborne Division 'had only two regiments from 1975 to 1980 after the disbandment of the 80th Guards Airborne Regiment in Baku'.[5] In 1967 for its achievements in training the Regiment was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

In 1979 the Regiment was relocated to Khyriv in Lviv Oblast,[6] seemingly, according to Russian sources, as the 39th Air Assault Brigade.[7] In 1990 the 39th Air Assault Brigade became the 224th Training Center of the Soviet Airborne Forces. In May of 1992 the service men of the unit gave the Oath to protect and serve the Ukrainian people. In 1995 the 224th Training Center of the Soviet VDV was renamed the 6th Separate Airmobile Brigade, which in 1999 was reorganized into the 80th Airmobile Regiment.

[edit] Deployments

Patch of the 81st Tactical Group
Patch of the 81st Tactical Group

Soldiers from the Regiment have served in Afghanistan, Nagorno-Karabakh, Kosovo[8], Sierra Leone, and Iraq.[9]

Almost a third of the Regiment was deployed to Iraq, as the last Ukrainian unit (81st Tactical Group) on May 15, 2005.[10][11] [12][13]

[edit] Structure

  • Headquarters Company[14]
  • 1st Airmobile Battalion[14]
    • 2nd Airmobile Company[14]
  • 2nd Airmobile Battalion[14]
    • 5th Airmobile Company[15]

[edit] Past commanders

  • Colonel Ihor Overin[16] - 2005
  • Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Kopachynskii

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Военно-промышленный комплекс | Електронні вісті
  2. ^ a b c d Новини Управління Прес-служби МО
  3. ^ 36 десантників 80-го окремого аеромобільного полку у Львові отримали нагороди
  4. ^ Урядовий портал :: Святковий стіл військовослужбовців 80-го окремого аеромобільного полку прикрашатимуть писанки з візерунками у вигляді куполів і строп парашута
  5. ^ Carey Schofield, 'The Russian Elite: Inside Spetsnaz and the Airborne Forces, Greenhill Books, 1993, p.135
  6. ^ Новини Управління Прес-служби МО
  7. ^ vdv
  8. ^ Новини Управління Прес-служби МО
  9. ^ http://www.lwr.com.ua/news/show/24457
  10. ^ ЛЬВІВСЬКА ГАЗЕТА | Проводи в Ірак
  11. ^ uht.org.ua / Українське Геральдичне Товариство / Розділи / ВІЙСЬКОВА СИМВОЛІКА / МИРОТВОРЧІ ПІДРОЗДІЛИ ЗСУ:
  12. ^ Провінційка
  13. ^ Ðåïîðòåð - Íîâèé Êàíàë
  14. ^ a b c d "Військо України"
  15. ^ Новини Управління Прес-служби МО
  16. ^ Яворівський 80-ий аеромобільний полк готовий до ротації в Ірак, де замінить 6-ту окрему механізовану бригаду