The 3rd Corps (Arabic: الفيلق الثالث) was a corps of the Syrian Army that was first formed in 1985. Richard Bennett wrote in 2001 that "three corps were formed in 1985 to give the Army more flexibility and to improve combat efficiency by decentralising the command structure, absorbing at least some of the lessons learned during the 1982 Lebanon War."[3] The 3rd Corps HQ was in Aleppo, based in the north and covered Hama, the Turkish and Iraqi borders, the Mediterranean coastline and was tasked with protecting the complex of chemical and biological warfare and missile production and launch facilities.[2] On 30 December 2023, Major General Ahmed Moalla was named as commander of the 3rd Corps.
| 3rd Corps | |
|---|---|
| الفيلق الثالث | |
 Syrian Armed Forces Flag | |
| Active | 1985 – 2024[1] |
| Country |  Syria |
| Allegiance |  Syrian Armed Forces  |
| Branch |  Syrian Army |
| Type | Corps |
| Size | up to 45,000 soldiers[2] |
| Garrison/HQ | Aleppo Al-Qutayfah (3rd Division)[2] Hama (8th Division) Homs (11th Division, Border Guard) Deir ez-Zor (17th Division) Aleppo (18th Division) |
| Engagements | Syrian Civil War |
| Commanders | |
| Current Commander | Dissolved |
| Chief of Staff | Dissolved |
Structure in 2001
edit- 2nd Reserve Armored Division
- 14th and 15th Armored Brigades
- 19th Mechanized Brigade
- Coastal Defense Brigade
- Other units under the control of this corps included four independent infantry brigades, one border guard brigade, one independent armored regiment, effectively a brigade group, and one special forces regiment.
Structure in 2013
edit- 3rd Armored Division
11th Armored Division
17th Division (HQ Deir ez-Zor)
- 137th Mechanized Brigade
- 93rd Armoured Brigade[5]
- 18th Armoured Division (HQ Aleppo)[6]
- 131st, 134th and 167th Armoured Brigades
- 120th Mechanized Brigade
- 64th Artillery Regiment
Structure in 2019
edit- 3rd Armored Division
- 8th Armored Division (formed in 2015)[9]
- 11th Armored Division[12]
- 17th Reserve Division
- 18th Armored Division[6]
- 131st, 134th and 167th Armored Brigades
- 120th Mechanized Brigade
- 64th Artillery Regiment
Border Guard Forces[14]
- 5th Regiment (Hasakah pocket)
- 6th Regiment (Southern Homs)
- 8th Regiment (Jordan-Syria border)
- 10th Regiment (Iraq-Syria border)
- 11th Regiment (Latakia)
- 12th Regiment (Manbij and Ayn al-Arab)
- Unknown Regiment (likely Lebanon-Syria border)
- 87th Battalion (Talkalakh)
References
edit- ^ Samuel M. Katz, Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars, Osprey Publishing Men-at-Arms 194, 1988, 13.
- ^ a b c d e Gregory Waters (18 July 2019). "The Lion and The Eagle: The Syrian Arab Army's Destruction and Rebirth". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ Richard M. Bennett, The Syrian Military: A Primer, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, August/September 2001.
- ^ a b c d Cooper 2015, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d Gregory Waters (20 November 2019). "Return to the northeast: Syrian Army deployments against Turkish forces". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ a b Cooper 2015, p. 13, 18-19.
- ^ Gregory Waters (20 November 2022). "Tel Rifaat #Aleppo - one 3rd Div soldier & 5 local militia-men Darbasiyah #Hasakah - 3 soldiers killed from 20th Brigade/3rd Div". Twitter. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ a b Gregory Waters (27 July 2019). "3rd Division's artillery regiment is the 14th (the 155th is an affiliated missile brigade)". Twitter. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- ^ Gregory Waters (12 March 2019). "Understanding Syria's Military Deployments in Idlib". International Review. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ Gregory Waters (17 July 2019). "Started as 3rd Division, got moved to 11th Division early on and then got shifted to the new 8th Division. It's got a weird shared custody between 8th and 11th now". Twitter. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ Leith Fadel (22 March 2017). "Syrian Army reinforcements arrive to northern Hama to fend off jihadist offensive". al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "Syria's Nusra seizes tanks, APCs from Assad's army". Middle East Eye. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ "Syrian commandos begin long campaign to Jisr Al-Shughour". 20 February 2016. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ Gregory Waters (25 September 2019). "Syria's Border Guards: From Auxiliary to Frontlines". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
Notes
edit- Cooper, Tom (2015). Syrian Conflagration: The Civil War 2011–2013. Middle East@War Volume 1. Helion & Co. ISBN 978-1-910294-10-9.