Boundaries of the North Caucasus Military District (in red) on 1 January 1989
The District was originally established on 4 May 1918, and reorganized as a field formation during the Russian Civil War. The First Cavalry Army was formed in the District in November 1919.[1]
On 4 May 1921, the field headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Army was used to form the headquarters of the North Caucasus Military District (2nd formation). However, troops remained subordinated to the 1st Cavalry Army staff until its dissolution on 11 October 1923.[2] District headquarters ended up at Rostov. Kliment Voroshilov was made district commander. During the 1920s and 1930s, the District became home to many training establishments, which were to multiply greatly during the Second World War.
Later the District saw battles around Rostov in November 1941 where the Germans suffered defeat, and the Battle of Stalingrad, which has been described as the most ferocious battle to date. Following the conclusion of the Battle of the Caucasus, the North Caucasian Front and the headquarters of the 56th Army were disbanded in accordance with a Supreme Command directive of the 20 November 1943. The Independent Coastal Army was formed, for the second time, on their base.
The 68th, 76th, 77th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 81st, 82nd and 83rd Naval Rifle Brigades were formed in the district after a November–December 1941 People's Commissariat for Defence resolution.[4]
Immediately following the war, to demobilize the force, on 9 July 1945 the territory was split into three military districts: Don, Stavropol, and the Kuban.
The Kuban Military District comprised the territory of Krasnodar Krai (formed by the headquarters of the 60th Army). The Kuban Military District comprised the 29th Rifle Corps (73rd, 102nd Rifle Division and 217th Rifle Divisions), as well as the 9th Rifle Division.[7] By summer 1946 the 29th Rifle Corps had been reduced to commanding the 8th, 9th, and 39th Independent Rifle Brigades. They were reexpanded into divisions in 1951.
The Don Military District was located in the territory of the Rostov, Stalingrad, and Astrakhan Oblasts. The staff of the Don Military District was located in Rostov-on-Don, and was considered the heir of the traditions of the North Caucasus Military District. Among the formations in the Don Military District was the 6th Rifle Corps, which had arrived from Latvia in 1945. In early 1946 its three rifle divisions were reduced to independent rifle brigades (the 15th, 18th, and 46th, though the 15th disbanded in 1947).
In 1946 the Don Military District was renamed again as the North Caucasian Military District. The official Russian military website notes the work of the soldiers of the district in helping repair the ravages of the war.
The important Kapustin Yar test range was created in the District following the war.
The 18th Guards HTD was involved in the Novocherkassk massacre in 1962. During the massacre, as the first deputy commander of the North Caucasian Military District, Lieutenant General Matvey Shaposhnikov refused to comply with the order to attack the demonstrators with tanks. Shaposhnikov was later expelled from the Communist Party for his criticism of the massacre.[12]
In 1979 Scott and Scott reported the District's HQ address as Rostov-na-Donu 18, Ulitsa Tekucheva, Dom 135.
In 1980 the 12th Army Corps controlled the 9th Motor Rifle Division (Maykop), the 156th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) (Novorossiysk), and the 113th Motor Rifle Division (mobilisation) at Goryachiy Klyuch, Krasnodar Krai. The 113th Motor Rifle Division was formed in 1978, and in 1981 moved to Molkino, Krasnodar Krai.[14] The same year, the 34th Army Corps controlled the 82nd Motor Rifle Division (Volvograd) and 197th Motor Rifle Division (Uryupinsk).
In the District in 1988–89 were the 128th cadre Air Assault Brigade at Stavropol, subordinated directly to Army GeneralNikolai Ivanovich Popov[ru] and his High Command of the Southern Military Direction at Baku;[16] the 173rd Guards District Training Centre at Groznyy (the former 42nd Training MRD renamed in 1987), the 14th Tank Division, and the 110th Guards Artillery Division, other smaller formations and units all under district control,[16] plus the formations and units in the 12th, 34th, and 42nd Army Corps.[16] The 110th Guards Artillery Division had been established in 1966 by being upgraded from brigade status.[17]
The 156th Motor Rifle Division of the cadre (the division in 1987 was reorganized into the 880th TUTC. In 1989, the 880th TTC was reorganized into the 5383rd BKhVT.[22] (Novorossiysk)
Corps Administration (Volgograd),[15] commander -, chief of staff of the corps Myachin L. S. (1986–1988)
82nd Motor Rifle Division (In 1990, the 82nd Motor Rifle Division was reorganized into the 6654th BHI)[15] (Volgograd)
345th Training Road Construction Brigade (1966: 197th Motor Rifle Division, Cadre; 1987: 881st Training Centre; 1988 training road construction brigade) (Uryupinsk)[15]
The official website underlines the importance of the District as a border formation with the task of securing the southern boundary of the Russian Federation. The first conflict the District became involved in during the post Soviet period was the attempted secession of South Ossetia from Georgia to join North Ossetia, which is a federal subject of the Russian Federation. Soldiers from the District became involved in protecting installation in Vladikavkaz from irregular fighters in late 1992.
In 1990, there were three army corps in the district.[25] The 12th Army Corps at Krasnodar, briefly to become the 49th Army, commanded the 9th Motor Rifle Division, the 42nd Army Corps at Vladikavkaz commanded the 19th Motor Rifle Division, and the 34th Army Corps at Volgograd commanded the 82nd Motor Rifle Division. Units directly under district command included the 110th Guards Artillery Division at Buynaksk, the 173rd District Training Centre at Groznyy one SSM, one SAM, one artillery, and one pipeline brigade. There were also reserve (no equipment) units: an artillery brigade, an anti-tank brigade, and a SAM brigade. From late 1991 into 1992 the 173rd Guards District Training Centre suffered huge losses of equipment to Chechen militants as it was pillaged in the process of removal of weapons to the Russian Federation proper;[26] it was formally disbanded on 4 January 1992.
The former 8th Guards Army of Stalingrad fame, was withdrawn from East Germany to the site of its greatest victory, now named Volgograd, in May 1993. While being transferred to the Caucasus, it became 8th Guards Army Corps. Arriving in Volgograd, it absorbed the previous 34th Army Corps, which from May 1992 – June 1993 had been designated the 48th Combined Arms Army.[27]
The 58th Combined Arms Army's creation was announced on April 26, 1995; previously there had only been corps headquarters in the District.[29] The new 58th Army was formed from the previous 42nd Army Corps headquarters. 8th Guards Army Corps was disbanded in 1998.
The District was the primary Russian military formation responsible for managing the Chechen conflict throughout the First and Second Chechen Wars. Insurgent activity slowly decreased in the early 2000s. Twenty-six soldiers won the star of the Hero of the Russian Federation in the first war, and 43 in the second.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the Armed Forces did not have the primary role in directing the anti-terrorist effort in the North Caucasus region. The Regional Operational Headquarters (ROSh), chaired by the Deputy Director FSB RF (Head of the department for protection of the constitutional structure and the campaign against terrorism) directed and conducted the counter-terrorist operation.[31] Subordinated to it was the Combined Grouping of Troops (OGV) in the North Caucasus drawing on the Armed Forces, the Interior Troops, the FSB, and other agencies.
During the 2008 South Ossetia War, troops from this district were involved in combat operations in South Ossetia and inside Georgian territory.
The Southern Military District was formed on October 22, 2010,[32] and the North Caucasus Military District was disbanded. Lieutenant General Alexander Galkin took command of the Southern Military District.
The Headquarters Military Band of the North Caucasus Military District was founded on 26 December 1962. Musicians have been repeated laureates and diploma recipients of all-army competitions of military bands, as well as a laureate of an international festival in Yugoslavia. It has also visited the Chechen Republic more than once, and in February 2002 attended a military parade of the United Group of Forces in Grozny. The unit consisted of 83 musician who were both military and civilian personnel.[36]
Song and Dance Ensemble
The Song and Dance Ensemble of the North Caucasian Military District was created in 1943 and has a permanent composition of 50 musicians. Every fifth member of the collective is an honored artist of some profession. There is also a composition of 5–10 conscripts. Its main task is to help the commanders of units maintain the moral and psychological spirit of their personnel. In the period between 1999 and 2003, the ensemble performed 200 concerts in the area of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus.[37]
Museum
On 1 November 1967, a museum dedicated to the military history of the North Caucasian Military District was opened in the House of Officers of the district. Since October 2010, it has served as the military history museum of the Southern Military District. In the memorial hall of the new museum, there is a relief map of the former district, opposite to which there are marble pylons with the names of two and three time Heroes of the Soviet Union. The Civil War hall reflects on the history of the creation and formation of the North Caucasian Military District.[38][39]
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↑ Niehorster, Order of Battle June 1941, apart from correction to 103rd Motorised Division rather than incorrect listing. For a correct listing of the 26th Mechanised Corps see Дриг Евгений. Механизированные корпуса РККА в бою: история автобронетанковых войск Красной Армии в 1940–1941 гг. — М.: АСТ: Транзиткнига, 2005.
↑ Evgeniy Abramov's book "The Black Death. Soviet Naval Infantry In Combat" («ЧЕРНАЯ СМЕРТЬ» СОВЕТСКАЯ МОРСКАЯ ПЕХОТА В БОЮ), Moscow 2009, ISBN 978-5-699-36724-5
Feskov, V.I.; K.A. Kalashnikov; V.I. Golikov (2004). The Soviet Army in the Years of the 'Cold War' (1945–1991). Tomsk: Tomsk University Press. ISBN5-7511-1819-7.
V.I. Feskov, Golikov V.I., K.A. Kalashnikov, and S.A. Slugin (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска)[The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II, from the Red Army to the Soviet (Part 1: Land Forces)]. Tomsk.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Improved version of 2004 work with many inaccuracies corrected.
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