The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.
It comprised the Republic of Adygeya, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Karachay–Cherkess Republic, the Republic of North Osetia-Alaniya, the Chechen Republic, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, and Astrakhan, Volgograd, and Rostov oblasts. It has the same borders as the Southern Federal District. Its last commander was Lieutenant General Alexander Galkin, appointed from January 2010.
History
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.Russian Ministry of Defence,History of the North Caucasus Military District , accessed August 17, 2007
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. 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.
In June 1941 the district's first line troops comprised the 64th Rifle Corps commanded by Major General A.D. Kuleshov with the 165th and 175th Rifle Divisions, the 26th Mechanised Corps with the 52nd and 56th Tank Divisions and the 103rd Mechanised Division, the 28th Mountain Rifle Division, and the 157th Rifle Division.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. The 19th Army was formed in the District in May–June 1941 under former district commander Ivan Konev and was engaged against the Germans from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. 50th and 53rd Cavalry Divisions were also formed here, joining the Soviet Western Front.
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.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
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 Stavropol Military District consisted of Stavropol Krai, Grozny Oblast, Kabardino-Balkar ASSR, and the North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Holm writes the district headquarters was formed in July 1945 from the headquarters of the 59th Combined Arms Army and HQ 1st Guards Horse-Mechanised Group.Michael Holm, Stavropol Military District, c2015, accessed August 2020. The 19th Rifle Division arrived in the district in late 1945. In accordance with an order of the Central Group of Forces (the Soviet garrison in Austria and Czechoslovakia), the 252nd Rifle Division was transported by rail to the Soviet Union via Kaposvár, Budapest, Sighet, Rostov, and Mineralnye Vody, with the rest of the 23rd Rifle Corps from 20 December 1945. On arrival the 23rd Rifle Corps was renumbered as the 60th Rifle Corps. By February 15, 1946 the 252nd Rifle Division had fully arrived in the Stavropol Military District (merged into the North Caucasus Military District shortly afterwards). 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. 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.
In 1955 the district's forces included the 6th Rifle Corps (68th Mechanised Division and 372nd, soon to become 68th, Rifle Division). Other forces included the 29th Rifle Corps, 9th Rifle, 19th Rifle, 24th Guards Rifle, 46th Rifle, and 73rd Mountain Rifle Division, and the 1st Guards Tank Division.
In 1957 the 12th Rifle Corps became the 12th Army Corps (Soviet Union). At the time it controlled the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division and the 92nd Motor Rifle Division (Ordzhonikidze, Severo-Osetinskaya ASSR), which became the 19th MRD in 1964. In 1957 the 29th Rifle Corps became the 29th Army Corps (9th and 73rd Motor Rifle Divisions), but eleven years later it was moved to Belogorsk, Amur Oblast, in the Far East Military District.Holm, 35th Combined Arms Army, 2015. Note Holm writes 9 years later, which may be a typographical error from Feskov et al 2013. In addition, there was the 18th Guards Heavy Tank Division at Novocherkassk.
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.The general, who did not shoot // Shkolazhizni.Ru — 2007. — December 8th
The District was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1968.
In 1974 the 14th Tank Division was established at Novocherkassk, to replace the 51st Tank Division which was moving to Mongolia.
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.Michael Holm, http://www.ww2.dk/new/army/corps/12ak.htm The same year, the 34th Army Corps controlled the 82nd Motor Rifle Division (Volvograd) and 197th Motor Rifle Division (Uryupinsk).
In August 1982 the 42nd Army Corps (:ru:42-й армейский корпус (СССР)) was formed in Ordzhonikidze in North Ossetia. It was assigned the 19th and 268th (cadre) Motor Rifle Divisions.
Formations at the end of the 1980s In the District in 1988–89 were the 128th cadre Air Assault Brigade at Stavropol, subordinated directly to Army General and his High Command of the Southern Military Direction at Baku; several divisions (14th Tank; 110th Guards Artillery; 173rd Guards District Training Centre); other smaller formations and units all under district control; plus the formations and units in the 12th, 34th, and 42nd Army Corps.
Headquarters and staff of the district were at Rostov-on-Don.
Ground Forces
14th Tank Division (Novocherkassk) 110th Guards Artillery Perekop Order of Kutuzov Division (Buinaksk) - established in 1966 by being upgraded from the 32nd Guards Howitzer Artillery Brigade of High Power. 160th Motor Rifle Division of the cadre; in 1989, it was reorganized into the 4770th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (VKhVT). (Yeisk) 259th Reserve Motor Rifle Division of the cadre (Grozny) 239th Cadre Rear Guard Division (Volgograd) 47th Guards Rocket Zaporozhye-Odessa Order of Lenin, Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Brigade (Maikop) 1st Rocket Brigade (Yeysk) The 102nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (the brigade arrived from the Siberian Military District in 1988.) (Eagle-Emerald) 179th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Yeisk) 201st Self-Propelled Artillery Brigade (Slavyansk-on-Kuban) 227th artillery brigade of high power (Slavyansk-on-Kuban) 11th Separate Communications Brigade of the High Command (Novocherkassk) 51st Separate Communications Brigade GKVYUN (Rostov-on-Don) 131st Radio Engineering Brigade OSNAZ (Rostov-on-Don) 128th separate airborne assault brigade of the GKVYUN (cadre) (Stavropol) 121st Engineer Brigade (Kamensk-Shakhtinsky) 3rd Road Commandant Brigade (Rostov-on-Don) 75th brigade of material support (Novocherkassk) 21st Chemical Protection Brigade (g Frolovo) 71st Separate Electronic Warfare Regiment (Aksay) 102nd Separate Electronic Warfare Regiment (Mozdok) 106th Separate Communications Regiment (Aksay) 433rd separate engineer-sapper battalion ( Aksai) 408th separate pontoon-bridge battalion (Kamensk-Shakhtinsky) 545th Separate Road Engineering Battalion ( Aksai) 121st Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion (Grozny) 860th separate flamethrower battalion (st. Bagaevskaya) 72nd communications center (Rostov-on-Don) 799th separate company of the GRU special forces (Novocherkassk) Training and reserve formations of district subordination 283rd Reserve Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade (Yeisk) 254th Reserve Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade 260th reserve anti-tank artillery brigade 1619th separate training battalion of communications 236th separate training tank repair battalion (Millerovo) 173rd Guards District Training Yevpatoriya Red Banner Training Center for Junior Specialists (Motorized Rifle Troops) (Grozny) Repair enterprises, property storage bases and warehouses of district subordination 50th car repair plant 234th mobile repair plant 682nd mobile repair plant 186th as-B; 744th AB-B (Novocherkassk) 2699th automobile warehouse 125th BRT 91st Communications Repair and Storage Base (Kropotkin) 2013 property storage base (Maikop) 92nd engineering warehouse (Georgievsk) 4770th base for storage of weapons and equipment (Yeisk)
12th Army Corps Corps Headquarters, 411th separate security and support company (Krasnodar) 9th Motorized Rifle Division of the Krasnodar Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and the Red Star Division named after the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR (Maikop), Commander Dorofeev, Alexander Anatolyevich 113th Motor Rifle Division of the cadre (Hot Key) 880th Territorial Training Centre (Novorossiysk) (156th Motor Rifle Division was reorganized into the 880th TUTC in 1987. In 1989, the 880th TTC was reorganized into the 5383rd VKhVT. 99th Missile Brigade (Krasnodar)