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58th Guards Combined Arms Army

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58th Army (I Formation) (Nov. 1941-Aug. 1942)
58th Army (II Formation) (Aug. 1942-Oct. 1943)
58th Army (III Formation) (1995-present)
Active1941 - current
CountrySoviet Union, Russia
BranchRed Army, Russian Ground Forces
TypeField army
Sizeseveral corps or divisions
Garrison/HQVladikavkaz
Engagements1940-1944 Chechnya insurgency, Second Chechen War, South Ossetian Crisis

The 58th Army is a field army; first of the Soviet Union's Red Army and subsequently (since 1995) of the Russian Ground Forces.

It was first formed in the Siberian Military District in November 1941, including the 362nd, 364th, 368th, 370th, 380th, and 384th Rifle Divisions and the 77th Cavalry Division and moved to the Archangelsk Military District, but then the Army was redesignated the 3rd Tank Army in May 1942. It was reestablished within the Kalinin Front in June 1942, and in July included the 16th and 27th Guards Rifle Divisions, the 215th and 375th Rifle Divisions, the 35th and 81st Tank Brigades, and other support units.[1] In August it was redesignated the 39th Army.

It was reformed in the Transcaucasian Front from the 24th Army on August 28 1942, under General Khomenko of the NKVD. Much of its senior cadre also came from the NKVD, and among its missions was to keep order in the Caucasus, particularly in the Groznyi and Makhachkala regions.[2] This was because of a Chechen rising that had gone on since 1941 (see 1940-1944 Chechnya insurgency). 58th Army later joined the North Caucasus Front. On 1 November 1942 it consisted of the 271st and 416th Rifle Divisions, and the Makhachkala Division of the NKVD.[3] Prior to the North Caucasus Front putting its main effort into the Kerch-Eltigen Operation (November 1943) the Army HQ was reorganised as Headquarters Volga Military District in October 1943.[4]

The headquarters was reformed in 1995 in the North Caucasus Military District from the 42nd Army Corps at Vladikavkaz.
During the Second Chechen War, the Army was commanded by General Vladimir Shamanov.[5]

On 8 August 2008 it was reported[6] that as a response to killing 10 and wounding 150 Russian peacekeepers during the Georgian military invasion (that begun on August 7)[7] into South Ossetia, a part of the 58th Army entered this republic and engaged in combat with Georgian forces.[8] This was confirmed by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Russian Ground Forces Igor Konashenkov.[9]

Order of Battle, 2003

Structure 58th Army

The Army operates in a close coordination with the 4th Air Force and Air Defence Army of the district, and includes:[10]

  • 19th Motor Rifle Division - Vladikavkaz
  • 205th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade- Budenovsk
  • 136th Guards Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade- Buynaksk, Dagestan
  • 135th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment- Prochladny, Kabardino-Balkaria
  • 291st Separate Artillery Brigade- Maikop- (equipped with 2A65)
  • 943rd Multiple Rocket Launcher Regiment – Krasnooktabrsky (Uragan 220mm MRL)
  • 1128th Anti-Tank Regiment- Maikop
  • 67th Separate Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (SAM)- Volgograd area (SA-11 'Buk' SAM)
  • 487th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Mi-8/Mi-24)- Budenovsk
  • 11th Separate Engineer Regiment- Kavkazskay
  • 234th Separate Signals Regiment – Vladikavkaz
  • 22nd Separate Regiment of Electronic Warfare- Vladikavkaz

Citations and notes

  1. ^ Combat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1 July 1942
  2. ^ David Glantz, personal correspondence, December 2007
  3. ^ BSSA via [1]
  4. ^ David Glantz, Companion to Colossus Reborn, 2005, p.59
  5. ^ p.109, Murphy
  6. ^ Torrey Clark and Greg Walters, Putin Says `War Has Started,' Georgia Claims Invasion (Update4), Bloomberg.com, 8 August 2008
  7. ^ [2] p.2, Peter Finn, William Branigin, Georgian, Russian Troops Clash in South Ossetia, Washington Post Foreign Service, Friday, August 8, 2008; 2:03 PM
  8. ^ [3] Oleg Shchedrov reporting for Reuters, Russian troops close to S. Ossetian capital, Moscow, August 8 13:38:12 GMT (Reuters)
  9. ^ [4] Минобороны РФ заявило о расстреле российских миротворцев, Lenta.ru, Rambler Media Group, Saturday, 09.08.2008, 03:45:33
  10. ^ Russian Ground Forces in the North Caucasus Military District v.1.0 December 1, 2003, Colin Robinson (editing and some text), Vadim Teplitskiy(unit list), and Craig Crofoot (history text), via http://www.orbat.com

References

  • Murphy, Paul J., The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terror, Brassey's, 2004
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