The 103rd Airborne Division is a military unit of the USSR Airborne Forces. After the collapse of the country, it continued its activities on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. She took part in the war in Afghanistan. In this article we will tell about the history of the division, its participation in the hostilities.
Formation history
Officially, the 103rd Airborne Division was created back in 1946. It was formed as a result of the reorganization of the 103rd Infantry Division, which participated in the Great Patriotic War. In particular, she took part in the Vienna operation.
The formation was carried out on the territory of the Mogilev region in the area of the city of Bykhov. The division came here from its previous place of deployment - the Ivanovo region. By that time, almost all officers had combat experience. Many of them landed in the rear of the Germans in the fall of 1943, ensuring the Soviet forces crossed the Dnieper as part of the 3rd airborne brigade.
The units that make up the division were finally staffed by the beginning of 1945. Arrived personnel, military equipment, weapons. It is believed that the 103rd Airborne Division was finally formed on January 1. Two weeks later, plunging into the train, its composition went west. They took part in the Vienna offensive operation, for example, in battles in the area of Lake Balaton.
On May 12, units entered the city of Třebo in Czechoslovakia. In its vicinity, they camped, embarking on hostilities according to a previously approved plan. On this, her confrontation with fascist Germany actually ended.
Here, the division destroyed about 10 thousand Nazis, 6 thousand officers and soldiers were captured. More than 3.5 thousand troops were awarded orders and medals, five received the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Post-war period
On May 9, the division met in the area of Szeged in the territory of Hungary. She stayed there until the end of the year. Then an order was received to go back. By February 10, arrived in the village of Seltsi, located in the Ryazan region.
In early June 1946, a decree of the Council of Ministers was issued. In accordance with it, the military unit was reorganized into the 103rd Airborne Division.
Its structure included:
- division headquarters and management;
- three paratrooper regiments (Order of Kutuzov, Order of Alexander Nevsky, Order of Suvorov);
- artillery regiment;
- anti-tank fighter division;
- anti-aircraft artillery division;
- self-propelled division;
- engineer and training battalions;
- reconnaissance company;
- communications company;
- field bakery;
- transportation author;
- airborne support company;
- health company.
Since August 5, the entire composition of the 103rd Airborne Division began training in accordance with the plan of the airborne troops. After some time, the division was redeployed to Polotsk.
Replenishment
In 1955-1956, the regiments of 103 divisions of the Airborne Forces became even more. 350 and 357 regiments of the Vienna Airborne Division were added.
At the same time, two regiments, previously included in its composition, were disbanded. Only 317 regiment 103 of the Airborne Division of the Order of Alexander Nevsky remained.
This happened in accordance with the directives of the General Staff, as it was necessary to increase the effectiveness in the effectiveness of the airborne troops.
As a result of the transfer of personnel to the new full-time and organizational structure, the number of individual divisions of the division was increased. In particular, the 133rd anti-tank fighter artillery division and the 50th aeronautical detachment, which included only 73 people, were created. It was a true elite of blue berets.
The location of the military unit was the city of Vitebsk in the Byelorussian SSR.
In 1958, the An-2 aircraft entered the airborne forces. A powerful and large-scale transport aviation squadron was formed on the basis of the 103 Vitebsk Airborne Division.
From August to October 1968, it was the 103rd division that was located on the territory of Czechoslovakia. She took part in the suppression of the armed uprising, which became world famous as the Prague Spring. Often you can see in the photo 103 Airborne Division, its equipment, soldiers and officers.
Participation in military exercises
The military unit has repeatedly participated in large-scale training camps. For example, in 1970 it arrived in the GDR, where the Brotherhood of Arms exercise was held.
Among other major peacetime operations, it is worth noting:
- Teachings "Shield-72."
- Parachute jumping from high-speed aircraft Il-76 and An-22 in 1975.
- "Spring 75".
- "Vanguard-76."
- combined exercises "Berezina" in 1978. This time the regiment for the first time in full force landed from an IL-76 aircraft. The operation carried out by the paratroopers was highly appreciated by the leadership of the armed forces.
All this time the 103rd Airborne Division was based in the city of Vitebsk. It was here that the basic training was carried out, the personnel received practice. Address 103 Airborne Division: Vitebsk, Frunze Avenue, the territory of the October administrative district. This is an important transport route of the city, which stretches more than 3.5 kilometers from Lazo Street to Freedom Square.
War in Afghanistan
In 1979, the 103rd Airborne Division from Vitebsk was sent to Afghanistan as part of a limited contingent of Soviet troops.
While in this country, a military unit regularly took part in military operations of various sizes. For the impeccable performance of combat missions, the division was awarded the Order of Lenin. At that time it was the highest state award of the USSR.
The first important mission of the 103rd Airborne Division in Afghanistan was participation in Operation Baikal-79. Within its framework, the seizure of strategically important facilities in the territory of Kabul was made. According to the plan, it was required to take control of 17 key buildings and structures in the Afghan capital, in particular, headquarters, ministries, a radio center, a prison for political prisoners, a telegraph, and a post office.
In parallel, it was decided to block all military units and headquarters of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. This was done by paratroopers with the support of units of the 108th motorized rifle division.
103 Vitebsk Airborne Division left Afghanistan one of the last. On February 12, the 350th Parachute Regiment was withdrawn. Moreover, even before February 14, Kabul airport was still guarded by soldiers and officers of the 3rd parachute airborne battalion.
By the beginning of spring, the division almost in full force returned to the place of its previous deployment in Vitebsk. From 1979 to 1989, the division was assigned to Kabul.
During perestroika
Soon, the soldiers and officers of the unit again left their place of deployment. In early 1990, the division was sent to Transcaucasia. The combat mission was to strengthen the border detachments that were on the state border of the Soviet Union with Turkey and Iran.
In fact, the division was reassigned to the border troops, which at that time were commanded by Major General Yevgeny Mikhailovich Bocharov. This decision caused mixed assessments in the leadership of the Armed Forces.
General Alexander Ivanovich Lebed noted that the 103rd division was considered at that time one of the most deserved in the airborne troops. Moreover, during the time she spent in Afghanistan, much in the country has changed. To the place of its deployment in Vitebsk, she actually returned to the broken trough. The barracks housing was transferred to other parts, the landfills were dilapidated, partially looted. The personnel faced an insurmountable wall of insoluble social problems.
At that time, some used this difficult situation to reassign the KGB military unit, effectively eliminating the division. The military officers were at a loss. They had green shoulder straps and caps of border guards, but at the same time blue vests. Moreover, on shoulder straps of caps and breasts, landing symbols remained. For such a confusion of form, the people even called them conductors.
The collapse of the USSR
In 1992, the division became part of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus. In this position, it lasted until the fall of 1995, when it became subordinate to the Office of Mobile Forces. Currently, his successor is the Special Operations Forces. At the same time, the regiments of the division were reorganized into brigades.
In 2002, the combat banner of the division was transferred to a separate mobile brigade, which began to wear No. 103. Since 2007, it has been part of the Special Operations Forces.
Now she uses the motto of the 103rd Airborne Division: "Strength, speed, courage, onslaught."
Commander
In the years of the confrontation with the Nazi invaders, the first commander of the division was the guard Colonel Sergei Prokhorovich Stepanov.
Three commanders of the 103rd Airborne Division have the title of Heroes of the Soviet Union, in particular, the Guard, Major General Mikhail Ivanovich Denisenko, who led the military unit from 1948 to 1949.
Denisenko is a participant in the Civil War. In 1941, he commanded a brigade in the Far East, then was transferred to the Moscow Military District, was involved in the defense of Stalingrad.
On the night of September 26, 1943, his division was the first to force the river, taking possession of the bridgehead in the vicinity of the village of Soshinovka, Dnipropetrovsk Region. For this feat, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was appointed commander of the 103rd division after completing courses at the Frunze Military Academy. In April 1949, died while performing a training parachute jump.
Albert Slusar
From 1981 to 1984, the division was commanded by Major General A.E. Slyusar. It was then that the unit was in Afghanistan. Albert Evdokimovich was born in 1939, graduated from the Far Eastern Command School. In 1962, on his own initiative, he asked to be transferred to the paratroopers.
He commanded the division for the first three years of its stay in Afghanistan. It was then, in November 1983, for the displayed heroism and courage that he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Until 1995, he led the landing school in Ryazan. After his resignation, he devoted himself to work in the Union of War Veterans, for some time he was an adviser to the head of the region.
After a long illness, he died in 2017, as soon as he was 78 years old.
Pavel Grachev
The most famous division commander is Major General Pavel Sergeevich Grachev. He was born in the Tula region in 1948. He graduated from the landing school in the Ryazan region.
After courses at the Frunze Academy, he was sent to Afghanistan. First, he participated in the war as part of the 345th Airborne Regiment. Then he temporarily returned to the USSR to command the airborne division in Kaunas.
When re-sent to Afghanistan, he was appointed commander of the 103rd division. In 1986 he received the title of Major General.
In May 1988, having completed combat missions with minimal losses, he occupied the strategically important Satukandav Pass in this region, which is located in the infamous Khost province. This was an important component of Operation Highway. For this, Grachev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
Returning from Afghanistan, transferred the command of the division to Major General Evgeny Mikhailovich Bocharov. The last commander of the division was the guard Colonel Grigory Andreevich Kalabukhov. He led the military unit until 1992.
Grachev’s career in the future has developed very successfully. He continued to serve in the landing troops. In 1990, he became commander of the USSR Airborne Forces. In total, during the service, he completed 647 parachute jumps, some of which during the testing of new equipment. Repeatedly injured, 8 times was shell-shocked.
He turned out to be one of the key participants in the August putsch when he complied with the order of the State Emergency Committee and brought troops into Moscow. It was Grachev who ensured the arrival in the capital of the 106th Airborne Division from Tula, which took control of all strategically important facilities. This happened on August 19th.
Already in the second half of the next day it became known that the general went over to Yeltsin’s side, refusing to implement the GKChP’s plan to seize the Supreme Council by force. As a result, he managed to establish relations with the new Russian leadership. To protect the White House, he ordered the use of tanks.
In May 1992, Grachev was appointed Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. He became the first head of the military department after the collapse of the USSR. He formed the top management of the department from generals, whom he personally knew from his service in Afghanistan. Grachev noted that he opposed the withdrawal of Russian troops outside the former USSR, sought to prevent the weakening of unity of command in the army and its politicization.
In November 1993, he joined the Security Council. He was a member of the gang disarmament group in Chechnya. Later in an interview he repeatedly claimed that he opposed the army’s entry into the territory of the Chechen Republic. According to rumors, Chernomyrdin even proposed firing him for pacifism unusual for the military. In June 1996, lost his post.
In 2012 he was hospitalized with a hypertensive crisis. He died on September 23. According to the official version, due to inflammation of the brain, although there were versions of even poisoning the most famous commander of the 103rd division. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery with all military honors.