The Kazakh Ground Forces (Kazakh: Қазақстан Құрлық әскерлері, Qazaqstan Qūrlyq äskerlerı; Russian: Сухопутные войска Казахстана) is the landservice branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is one of the three uniformed military services, and is the most senior branch of the Kazakh military in order of precedence. The main tasks of the Ground Forces include the following:[1] maintaining the readiness of troops to repel aggression, the armed defense of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Kazakhstan, protecting the state and military facilities, peacekeeping missions. In its duties, it primarily engages in land warfare and combined arms operations, including armored and mechanized operations as well as airborne and air assault operations. It is headed by a chief military officer, the Commander of the Ground Forces who is also a member of the General Staff.
History
Soviet era
Many large units of the Turkestan Military District were redeployed from the Turkmen SSR to Eastern Kazakhstan back in the 1960s. Immediately prior to its dissolution, the 40th Army (Soviet Union), the former 32nd Army, consisted of the 78th Tank Division, the 5202nd Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment (prior to 1989, the 71st Motor Rifle Division), the 5203rd Storage Base in Ust-Kamenogorsk (prior to 1989, the 155th Motor Rifle Division), the 5204th Storage Bade at Karaganda (prior to 1989, the 203rd Zaporozhye Khingan Motor Rifle Division), the 69th Tank Division and the 10th Fortified Area.[2] The 69th Tank Division and the 10th Fortified Area were both disbanded in 1992.
The Kazakh Army was founded on 9 April 1993, by the order of Defense Minister Sagadat Nurmagambetov. It followed the enacting of the law, "On Defense and Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan", which is the legal basis for the Kazakh military structures.[4] The former Soviet structure of troops was preserved, with the Kazakh Army being made up of the Soviet 32nd Army, which had been serving in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic for many years before it came under Kazakh government control in May 1992.[5] That month, on the basis of the 5203rd Military Equipment Storage Base (formerly the 155th Motorized Rifle Division), the 511th Motorized Rifle Regiment was re-formed with a deployment in the settlement. Georgievka, Semipalatinsk Region.
In the middle of the 1990s, the Kazakh Ground Forces included the 1st Army Corps (HQ Semipalatinsk), the 68th Motor Rifle Division (Sary-Ozek in the Kyzylorda Province), with 2 motor-rifle and one tank regiments, and the 78th Tank Division (HQ Ayaguz).[6] The IISS reported that as of 1 June 1995 Kazakh ground forces included a corps HQ; a tank division; an artillery brigade; two motor-rifle divisions (one training); an artillery regiment; an independent motor rifle regiment; a multiple rocket launcher brigade with BM-21 and 9P140 "Urugan,"; and an air assault brigade.[7] While the 68th Division was called a motor-rifle formation, in equipment terms it had almost 300 tanks and about 500 armored fighting vehicles. The 78th Tank Division had 350 tanks, 290 armored fighting vehicle, and 150 artillery pieces. The 210th Guards Training Center (often called the Division of Guards by Kazakh sources), had 6,000 soldiers and officers 220 tanks, and 220 artillery pieces, so was a strengthened division. In 1997, the 2nd Army Corps was created with headquarters in Almaty, under which all units and formations in the Almaty, Zhambyl and South Kazakhstan regions were transferred.
On 17 November 1997, the General Purpose Forces were formed.[8] In 2000, on the basis of the 35th Guards Airborne Assault Brigade, the Mobile Forces of the Armed Forces were created, which in 2003 were renamed into Airmobile Forces as part of the Ground Forces. In 2015, Airmobile Troops were renamed Air Assault Troops.[9][10] Since 2002, the ground forces have begun the transition to a brigade structure. In this regard, there was a process of disbandment of divisions and the creation of brigades on the basis of regiments.[11]
The Eastern Military District was formed on the basis of the administration of the 1st Army Corps.[13] The Directorate of the Southern Military District (Military Unit 03858) was created in Taraz on 15 September 2000, on the basis of the directorate of the 2nd Army Corps and the Directorate of the Ground Forces.[14][15] On 7 May 2003, the military districts were renamed into regional commands (Kazakh: өңірлік қолбасшылықтар)[16][17] Currently, the ground forces include four regional commands:[18]
Colonel Mereke Kuchekbaev (since 9 January 2020)[21]
Regional Command "East"
It is located within the administrative boundaries of East Kazakhstan and Pavlodar Province (Families, Ust-Kamenogorsk, George, and Ayagoz Usharalsky Garrisons). The District has the following units:[20]
8th Mechanized Brigade at Semey.[22] On 14 November 2016 the brigade, Military Unit 30217, celebrated the 27th anniversary of its originator, the 71st Motor Rifle Division.[23]
Major General Asan Zhusupov (since September 2019)[24]
Regional Command "West"
It is located within the administrative boundaries of the West Kazakhstan Province, Aktobe Province, Atyrau Province and Mangystau Province. The main task is ensuring the integrity of state borders, territorial integrity, sovereignty and economic interests of Kazakhstan in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. The District has the following units:[20]
100th Artillery Brigade at Aktobe (reportedly the former 2028th VKhVT with в/ч 32355)
Paratroopers of the 35th Guards Air Assault Brigade
The Kazakh Air Assault Forces were formed by grouping the 35th Guards Air Assault Brigade (which arrived from Germany in April 1991 and was taken over by Kazakhstan in 1992) with new brigades formed from previous Soviet units. In October 2003, the 36th Separate Air Assault Brigade was formed on the basis of the 2nd Motor Rifle Brigade. On the basis of the Taldykorgan Motor Rifle Regiment, in April 2003 the 37th Separate Air Assault Brigade was formed. The 38th Air Assault Brigade is also known as the KAZBRIG Peacekeeping Brigade and was given its current name in 2007.[28]
The Airmobile Forces consists of the following units:
The Artillery and Missile Forces of Kazakhstan was formed in 1992 on the basis of the headquarters of the Missile Forces and Artillery of the Central Asian Military District of the Soviet Armed Forces. At first, they were structurally part of the Special Forces of the Ministry of Defense, and then the General Purpose Forces. Since 2003, they have operated as a separate branch of the military under the Ground Forces. Units and subunits are equipped with all the necessary types of missile and artillery systems of caliber from 82 to 300 mm.
The Department of Artillery has been operating at the Military Institute of the Ground Forces since 1993, which annually graduates up to 60 officers-artillerymen. In 2014, on the basis of the National University of Defense, the Department of Missile Forces and Artillery was created. Professional officers of this profile are also trained at the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg. Additionally, the forces are replenished by graduates of the military departments of the Karaganda State Technical University and the Almaty Satbayev University. In 1998, at the Matybulak training ground, three Tochka-U tactical missiles were launched, the launch of the first rocket from which was then carried out by President Nazarbayev. In 2002, at the Saryshagan training ground, operational-tactical exercises of the Rocket Forces and Artillery “Shield of the Motherland” were held.[31]
The current commander is Colonel Askar Zholamanov.[32] 19 November is celebrated as the Day of Missile Forces and Artillery.[33]
Regional Commands of Kazakhstan
Training
Military Institute
Cadets of the military institute on Red Square during a 2015 Victory Day parade in Moscow
The Military Institute of the Kazakh Ground Forces (Kazakh: Qurlyq áskerleriniń áskerı ınstıtýty / Құрлық әскерлерінің әскери институты) is the main educational institute of the Ground Forces and one of the leading Kazakh military academies. It has many notable alumni, including Lieutenant General Murat Maikeyev, Colonel General Saken Zhasuzakov and Major General Abibilla Kudayberdiev.[34]
Junior Specialist Training
The training of junior specialists of rank and file in military accounting specialties for the Ground Forces is carried out in the following training centers:
Training Center for Combat Training of Junior Specialists and the Reserve of the Ground Forces – Spassk, Karaganda[36]
Training Center of the Missile Forces and Artillery – Priozersk, Karaganda
Cadet Corps
The Cadet Corps named after Shoqan Walikhanov is an institution of the Ministry of Defense was formed on 1 July 1996 as a secondary school that prepared Kazakh youth for service in the military. A month after its formation, the corps had 96 enlisted cadets, most of whom came from the Alma-Ata Higher All-Arms Command School. On its first graduation day in 1999, the corps received its own battle flag from the then head of the corps, Colonel Kuangaliev, and defense minister Mukhtar Altynbayev. The corps is currently based in the city of Shchuchinsk in the Akmola Region.[37]
Arlan is a multi–purpose armored wheeled vehicle with enhanced mine protection of the MRAP type. Produced at the Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering LLP[43]
It is planned to purchase 45 units of these vehicles for the needs of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan.[45]
^Most specific unit information, including military unit numbers, locations, etc. is sourced from Vad777, "kazachstan-grand". www8.brinkster.com (in Russian). 24 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
International Institute for Strategic Studies (1995). The Military Balance 1995-96. Tavistock Street, London: Oxford University Press for the IISS. ISBN0-19-828055-6.
Kazakhstan
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