30th Mechanized Brigade (Ukraine)

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)

Brigade Insignia
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
Cold War
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]

History

World War II

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.

Cold War

Feskov et al. trace the unit's history as follows. The Division was transformed in July 1945 into 11th Guards Mechanized Division. (August 1, 1945, the connection was reorganized into 11th Guards Rivne Orders of the Red Banner and Suvorov Mech Division - http://na.mil.gov.ua/number/4765/1325.htm)

In 1957 it became the 30th Guards Tank Division, and remained under that title until the fall of the Soviet Union.[5]

1990-present

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.

It was still designated a tank division as of Decree N 350/93 (August 21, 1993). 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, the 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]

Formation patches

Order of battle

Division: 2003

Brigade (2004-present)

Awards

The brigade has received 22 orders, and 30 of its soldiers have been decorated with medals.[9]

Past commanders

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 30th Mechanized Brigade (Ukraine).
  1. ↑ http://www.vu.mil.gov.ua/pdf/2007-12.pdf
  2. ↑ "List of full names of the Ukrainian Military unit". President.gov.ua. 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  3. ↑ Red Sabers, Soviet Cavalry Corps, Divisions, and Brigades, 1941-1945, Charles C. Sharp
  4. ↑ "Biography of Major-General Petr Ivanovich Zubov". Generals.dk. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  5. ↑ Feskov et al, The Soviet Army during the period of the Cold War, Tomsk University Press, Tomsk, 2004, p.54/55
  6. ↑ "Новини Управління Прес-служби МО". Mil.gov.ua. 2006-04-05. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  7. ↑ "Новини Управління Прес-служби МО". Mil.gov.ua. 2006-04-05. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Новини Управління Прес-служби МО". Mil.gov.ua. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "Про присвоєння почесного найменування "Новоград-Волинсь...| вiд 20.10.1999 № 1356/99". Zakon1.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 2012-03-09.