83rd Cavalry Division (1941-c.1944) 13th Guards Cavalry Division (c.1944-45) 11th Guards Mechanised Division (1945-57) 30th Guards Tank Division (1957-2004) 30th Guards Mechanized Brigade (2004-present) |
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Brigade Insignia |
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Active | September 1, 1941 - December 6, 1991 December 6, 1991 - present |
Country | Soviet Union 1941-1991 Ukraine 1991-present |
Branch | Red Army 1941-1991 Ukrainian Ground Forces 1991-present |
Type | Mechanized |
Part of | 8th Army Corps |
Garrison/HQ | A0409 Novohrad-Volynskyi, Zhytomyr Oblast |
Engagements | World War II |
Decorations | Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov |
Battle honours | Rivne, Novohrad-Volynskyi |
Commanders | |
Current commander |
Colonel Ihor Dovhan[1] |
Insignia | |
Guards unit | |
Mechanized branch insignia |
The 30th Mechanized Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
The full name of the Brigade is 30th Separate Guards Mechanized Novohrad-Volynskyi Rivne Orders of the Red Banner and Suvorov Brigade, (Ukrainian: 30 окрема гвардійська механізована Новоград-Волинська Рівненська орденів Червоного Прапора і Суворова бригада).[2]
Contents |
Between September 1 and October 1, 1941, the 83rd Cavalry Division was formed in the city of Samarkand Uzbekistan .
The division consisted of the following units:
From September 5, 1941, the commanding officer of the Division was Lieutenant General Selivanov.
On November 7, 1941 the Division was sent to the Volga Military District where it was assigned to the newly forming Cavalry mechanized group of the 61st Army. Until December 28, 1941 the Division was fortifying near the station of Lysi Gory Saratov Oblast.
The first battle that the Division took part in was near the city of Ryazhsk, Ryazan Oblast as part of the Cavalry mechanized group of the 61st Army as part of the Bryansk Front and the Soviet winter counter offensive in front of Moscow. In January 1942 the division was assigned to the 7th Cavalry Corps and was assigned to be a Mobile Group in the Moscow Defense Zone for the 61st Army. The division remained with the 7th Cavalry Corps for the rest of 1942 and when the Corps was redesignated as the 6th Guards Cavalry Corps in January 1943 the division was redesignated as the 13th Guards Cavalry Division on 19 January 1943.[3] The division was under the command of General Major Petr Zubov.[4]
The 13th Guards Cavalry Division fought at Dubno in 1944, as well as at the Battle of Debrecen and was with 6th Guards Cavalry Corps of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in May 1945.
Feskov et al. trace the unit's history as follows. The Division was transformed in July 1945 into 11th Guards Mechanized Division. In 1957 it became the 30th Guards Tank Division, and remained under that title until the fall of the Soviet Union.[5]
The 30th Guards Tank Division, along with the rest of the 8th Tank Army and the Carpathian Military District, became part of the Ukrainian Ground Forces according to the order of Ukraine About Armed Forces of Ukraine from December 6, 1991.
In February 1992, all units of the Division pledged their allegiance to Ukraine.
On October 20, 1999, the Division was awarded the Novohrad-Volynskyi designation.
On July 30, 2004, the Division was reformed into a Brigade.
Currently the brigade is the only mechanized brigade that does not have any conscripts. It is also a part of Joint Rapid Reaction Forces.
Over a hundred soldiers from the Brigade have served in peace keeping missions in Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Iraq and Kosovo.[6]
As of October 12, 2007 2nd mechanized battalion of the Brigade is deployed in Kosovo as part of the POLUKRBAT.[7]
The current commander of the brigade served as a commander of the 5th Separate Mechanized brigade in Iraq.[8]
The brigade has received 22 orders, and 30 of its soldiers have been decorated with medals.[9]