74th Motor Rifle Brigade

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=94th Guards Rifle Division (April 1943 - 1957)
94th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1957 - 1991/92)
74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (1991/92 - present)


caption=
dates=1943-57, 1957-92, 1992-present
country=Soviet Union, Russia
allegiance=
branch= Soviet Army, Russian Ground Forces
type= Division
role= Motor Rifles
size=
command_structure= Siberian Military District
current_commander=
garrison=Yurga
decorations= Order of Suvorov
battles= World War II
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=The 74th Motor Rifle Brigade is today a military formation of the Russian Ground Forces's 41st Army, part of Siberian Military District, stationed in Yurga, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.

The 74th Motor Rifle Brigade was created from the disbanded 94th Guards Zvenigorod-Berlin Order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Division, formerly of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The 94th Guards Rifle Division was formed on 23 April 1943 in the eastern Ukraine with the consolidation of the 14th Guards and 96th Rifle Brigades. It took part in the liberation offensives in the southern Ukraine through the remainder of 1943 and into 1944 as part of the 5th Shock Army. It remained with the Army through the remainder of the war and ended in the streets of Berlin. Post-war, it remained with the 5th Shock Army for a period, then transferring to the 3rd Army. In 1957, it was one of the few Rifle Divisions to be reorganized into a Motor Rifle Division and still retain its original number. In the mid-1980s, it was transferred to the 2nd Guards Tank Army, where it remained until withdrawn from Germany in 1991.

94th Guards Motor Rifle Division Units, 1989-90

Assigned units: [Craig Crofoot, Group of Soviet Forces Germany, Version 3.0.0, manuscript available at www.microarmormayhem.com]
*a. Division Headquarters – Schwerin 53° 37’ 00” North, 11° 25’ 00” East
*b. 204th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BMP) – Schwerin 53° 36’ 10” North, 11° 25’ 20” East
*c. 286th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Schwerin 53° 35’ 40” North, 11° 26’ 00” East
*d. 288th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (BTR) – Wismar 53° 53’ 30” North, 11° 26’ 00” East
*e. 74th Guards Tank Regiment – Schwerin 53° 36’ 20” North, 11° 25’ 20” East
*f. 199th Guards Self-Artillery Regiment – Wismar 53° 53’ 30” North, 11° 26’ 00” East
*g. 896th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment – Schwerin 53° 36’ 50” North, 11° 22’ 30” East
*h. 28th Independent Tank Battalion – Schwerin 53° 36’ 50” North, 11° 22’ 30” East
*i. 496th Independent Anti-Tank Artillery Battalion – Schwerin 53° 38’ 40” North, 11° 25’ 30” East
*j. 12th Independent Reconnaissance & Radio EW Battalion – Schwerin 53° 34’ 40” North, 11° 26’ 30” East
*k. 159th Independent Guards Signals Battalion – Schwerin 53° 37’ 00” North, 11° 25’ 00” East
*l. 107th Independent Guards Engineer-Sapper Battalion – Schwerin 53° 35’ 40” North, 11° 26’ 00” East
*m. Unidentified Independent Chemical Defense Battalion
*n. 52nd Independent Repair-Reconstruction Battalion
*o. 90th Independent Medical-Sanitation Battalion
*p. 1130th Independent Material Support Battalion

Reorganisation into a brigade

After arriving in Yurga (near Tomsk) in the Siberian Military District, it was reorganized into the 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, where it remains today. Other units also became part of the 74th Motor Rifle Brigade including a guards engineering battalion and the 386th Tank Regiment.

On February 3, 2005, Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov visited the brigade and promised by the end of 2006, the brigade would consist fully of professional soldiers, not conscripts. He also said the brigade is one of the most combat ready and a new barracks would be constructed.

As of 2005 the commander was Major General Farid Balaliyev.

74th Motor Rifle Brigade Order of Battle

*41st Army - Novosibirsk
**74th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade - Yurga
***total 3000 troops [Soldat.ru forum data, http://www.soldat.ru/forum/?gb=3&action=prn&thread=1177313439]
***867th Separate Motor-rifle Battalion
***873rd Separate motor-rifle battalion
***880th Separate motor-rifle battalion
***13th Separate Tank Battalion
***227th Separate Self-propelled Howitzer artillery Battalion
***230th Separate Self-propelled Howitzer artillery Battalion
***237th Separate anti-tank artillery battalion
***243rd Separate Antiaircraft rocket-artillery Battalion

References

*Craig Crofoot, Group of Soviet Forces Germany, Version 3.0.0, manuscript available at www.microarmormayhem.com
*RIA Novosti, '74th Motorized Brigade to be manned with professionals by Year End 2006', YURGA/Kemerovo Region, February 3, 2005 (10:41)
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/74-bde.htm GlobalSecurity.org]
* [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/fbis/SiberianMD.htm#74thSeparateGuardsMotorised-RifleBrigad fas.org]
* [http://www.rkka.ru/handbook/guard/94gvsd.htm 94th Guards Rifle Division (Russian)]