The 22nd Guards Army was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

of the

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

, part of the Moscow Military District. It was active from 1990 to 2009. The order for the formation's dissolution was signed by the Minister of Defence on 1 June 2009. It was formed in 1990 as the 22nd Guards Army from an army corps.

History

The 22nd Guards Army headquarters was redesignated from the previous

13th Guards Army Corps The 13th Guards Army Corps was a corps of the Soviet Ground Forces, formed from the previous 13th Guards Rifle Corps, which saw service during the Second World War. World War II The 13th Guards Rifle Corps was formed from 30 October to 15 Novem ...

in 1990 in the Moscow Military District at

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

, as the 22nd Guards Konigsberg Red Banner Army, inheriting the awards and honorifics of the corps. Initially it controlled the 31st Tank Division, withdrawn from the Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia and the

47th Guards Tank Division The 47th Guards Tank Division () is a tank division of the Russian Ground Forces. It was formed in October 1942, during World War II from the first formation of the 154th Rifle Division as the 47th Guards Rifle Division. It served with the 8t ...

formerly from the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...

, as well as the 166th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

) (which was formerly the

6th Guards Motor Rifle Division The 6th Guards Motor Rifle Vitebsk-Novgorod Twice Red Banner Division (; Military Unit Number 68434) was a Soviet motor rifle division, which after the end of World War II was stationed on the Polish territory as part of Northern Group of Forces. ...

with the Northern Group of Forces in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

), the 211th Artillery Brigade, the 918th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment (both at Mulino), and two helicopter regiments. However, manpower levels were low; the tank divisions were reported to be at an establishment of 2,193 each and the 166th Motor Rifle Brigade at 3,638. By June 1998 the two tank divisions had been merged as the new

3rd Motor Rifle Division The 3rd Vislenskaya Red Banner Motor Rifle Division is a motorized infantry division of the Russian Ground Forces. The 3rd Motor Rifle Division was formed in 1997 from the amalgamation of the 31st and 47th Guards Tank Divisions of the Moscow Mi ...

, and the new division was designated at as 'constant readiness' formation, to be maintained at at least 80% strength. Also, the 166th Motor Rifle Brigade has now been reduced to a storage base as the 70th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (VkhVT).

Composition in 2000s

*Headquarters -

** 3rd Motor Rifle Division - Mulino (Nizhny Novgorod) ** 50th Rocket Brigade - Shuya ( OTR-21 Tochka-U surface to surface missiles) ** 211th Artillery Brigade — Mulino **

5th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade The 5th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade () is an air defence brigade of the Russian Ground Forces' 6th Army, stationed at Gorelovo in Saint Petersburg. Formed in 1961 at Uzhhorod in Ukraine as the 919th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, it ...

- Shuya ** 918th Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment;— Mulino ** 490th Separate Combat Control Helicopter Regiment (490 OVP BU) (Mi-24, Mi-8) (Tula - Klokovo, Tula Oblast) ** 214th Separate Helicopter Squadron (214 OVE) (Mi-24, Mi-8) (Kursk) ** 253rd Separate Helicopter Squadron (253 OVE) (Mi-24, Mi-8) (Kostroma) ** 70th 'Vitebsko-Novgorod' Armament Storage Base (former 166th 'Vitebsko-Novgorod' Guards Separate Motor Rifle Brigade/6th GMRD) (Tver) ** 1174th Armament Storage Base (New Smolino, Nizhni Novgorod Oblast) ** 6325th Armament Storage Base (Vyazniki, Vladimir Oblast) ** 22nd Central Base for the Reserve and Repair of Tanks (V/Ch 42713) (T-80U/UM/UD, BTR-80) (

Buy, Kostroma Oblast Buy (russian: Буй) is a town in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Kostroma River. Population: History Buy was originally a trading post and protected by a hill fortress of Finno-Ugrian Meri people c. 400–500 CE. I ...

) ** other auxiliary brigades and regiments General Alexey Merkuryev was the army commander in 2004. The 3rd Motor Rifle Division and the storage base at Tver were identified as the main formations of the army in mid-2005. The army headquarters was disbanded on 1 June 2009, as part of wider reforms of the Russian Ground Forces, and the

20th Guards Army The 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (originally designated as the 4th Tank Army, 4th Guards Tank Army in 1945, 4th Guards Mechanised Army in 1946, and the 20th Guards Army in 1960 within the Soviet Ground Forces) is a field army. In 1991, after th ...

headquarters moved to the 22nd Army's old base at Mulino in August 2010.

References

* * {{Armies of the Russian Armed Forces 022 Military units and formations established in 1990 Military units and formations disestablished in 2009 Armies of the Russian Federation Guards Armies