1st Corps (Syria)


The 1st Corps was a corps of the Syrian Army that was first formed in 1985. Richard Bennett wrote in 2001 that "three corps 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." He said that the 1st Corps covered southern Syria, in particular the heavily fortified defense zone between Damascus and the Golan Heights and south to Daraa near the border with Jordan. On 29 December 2022, Major General Suhail Asaad was appointed as commander of the 1st Army Corps of the Syrian Arab Army.

Structure in 2001

Bennett's estimate of the 2001 order of battle was:
Bennett said the 1st Corps also had four independent special forces regiments, including two trained for helicopter-inserted commando operations against the Israeli signals intelligence and observation posts on Mount Hermon and elsewhere in the Golan Heights.
Cordesman et al. said from 2002 to 2005, the command of the 1st Corps was replaced three times.
Tom Cooper wrote that prior to the Syrian Civil War, the 1st Corps' main role was defence against an Israeli invasion over the Golan Heights or through Jordan. It had two lines of defence stretching along the cease-fire lines from 1973, and controlled over four divisions, a special forces division and two independent infantry brigades.
The corps commander Major General Faraq Shehada was seized as a prisoner of war on 29 June 2012.

Structure in 2013

5th Mechanized Division
  • * 112th Mechanised Brigade - Isra
  • *132nd and 15th Mechanised Brigades
  • * 12th Armoured Brigade - Isra
  • * 175th Artillery Regiment - Cooper 2015 says this regiment, at Isra equipped with the 2S1, was a cadre and never deployed outside its base, and then overrun in February 2014.6th Armoured Division
  • * 45th Regiment
  • * 85th Brigade
  • * 76th Armored Brigade - now defunct. Formerly part of 1st Division7th Mechanized Division
  • * 68th, 121st and 88 Mechanised Brigades
  • * 78th Armoured Brigade
  • * Artillery Regiment 9th Armoured Division - Major General Yusuf Ahmed
  • * 33rd, 34th and 43rd Armoured Brigades
  • * 52nd Mechanised Brigade - disbanded
  • * Artillery Regiment
In addition, the corps still included the 61st and 90th Infantry Brigades in 2013. Within the last one/two years, Brigade 90 has been reported in the Quneitra area, but its base was reportedly overrun by rebels in February 2014.

Structure in 2019

Source:5th Mechanized Division