Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

's 9th Guard Brigade - named "The Wolves" - was Croatian Army's guard brigade formed in 1992 in wake of Croatian War of Independence. The brigade's main area of operations was region of Lika and its headquarters were in town of

Gospić Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

Formation

The brigade was formed on 1 November 1992 and colonel

Mirko Norac Mirko Norac (born 19 September 1967) is a former Croatian general of the Croatian Army (HV), and a convicted war criminal. He was the first Croatian Army general to be found guilty of war crimes by a Croatian court, in 2003, after his case was t ...

was named as its first commander. It was created by merging of 118th and 133rd brigade, which participated in operations on that area ever since beginning of conflict in 1991, into a one single brigade.

Military service

Its first major challenge was participation in

Operation Maslenica Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Masl ...

in January 1993 when brigade took control of area in direction of Rovanjska - Jesenice - Tulove Grede. For this, the brigade was commended by Chief of General Staff

Janko Bobetko Janko Bobetko (10 January 1919 – 29 April 2003) was a Croatian general who had participated in World War II and later in the Croatian War of Independence. He was one of the founding members of 1st Sisak Partisan Detachment, the first anti- ...

. In September that same year the brigade was a main strike force in

Operation Medak Pocket Operation Medak Pocket ( sh, script=Latn, Operacija Medački džep, ) was a military operation undertaken by the Croatian Army between 9 – 17 September 1993, in which a salient reaching the south suburbs of Gospić, in the south-central Lika ...

. During the Operation Storm in August 1995, the brigade had tasked to take the Udbina airport and advance eastwards towards border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. This task was completed successfully.

2007 Armed forces reform

As part of the 2007 reform, the brigade was incorporated in Motorized Guards Brigade of Croatian Army.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Brigades of Croatia Military units and formations established in 1992 Military units and formations disestablished in 2008 1992 establishments in Croatia Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence