Kazakh Ground Forces


The Kazakh Ground Forces is the land service branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is one of the three uniformed military services, and the most senior branch of the Kazakh military in order of precedence. The main tasks of the Ground Forces include the following: 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, the 5203rd Storage Base in Ust-Kamenogorsk, the 5204th Storage Bade at Karaganda, the 69th Tank Division and the 10th Fortified Area. The 69th Tank Division and the 10th Fortified Area were both disbanded in 1992.
The 57th Separate Airborne Brigade based in Aktogay, [East Kazakhstan Region] was the only unit of the Soviet Airborne Forces based in Kazakhstan.

Post-independence

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 structure. 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. That month, on the basis of the 5203rd Military Equipment Storage Base, the 511th Motorized Rifle Regiment was re-formed with a deployment in the settlement. Georgievka, Semipalatinsk Region.
In the mid-1990s, the Kazakh Ground Forces included the 1st Army Corps, the 68th Motor Rifle Division, with 2 motor-rifle and one tank regiments, and the 78th Tank Division. 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 ; an artillery regiment; an independent motor rifle regiment; a multiple rocket launcher brigade with BM-21 and 9P140 "Urugan,"; and an air assault brigade. 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, 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. 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. 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.

Structure

Regional Commands

On July 6, 2000, military districts were created to control the ground forces:
The Eastern Military District was formed on the basis of the administration of the 1st Army Corps. The Directorate of the Southern Military District 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. On 7 May 2003, the military districts were renamed into regional commands Currently, the ground forces include four regional commands:
  • Regional Command "Astana"
  • Regional Command "East"
  • Regional Command "West"
  • Regional Command "South"
Each of the commands have the following general composition:
  • One mechanized division
  • One motor rifle division
  • One training center with two motor rifle regiments
  • One motor rifle training regiment
  • One tank training regiment
  • One artillery regiment
  • Three independent motor rifle brigades
  • Two artillery brigades
  • One engineer brigade

    Regional Command "Astana"

It is located within the administrative boundaries of Akmola, Karagandy Province, Kostanay Province and North Kazakhstan. The command acts as the Supreme Commander's reserve. The District includes the following units:
  • 7th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade at Karaganda
  • Reconnaissance Regiment at Aktas
  • 401st Cannon Artillery Brigade at Ungurtas
  • 402nd Rocket Artillery Brigade at Priozersk
  • 403rd Anti-tank Artillery Brigade at Priozersk
  • Training Center for Combat Training of Junior Specialists and the Reserve at Spassk
  • Missile Forces and Artillery Training Center at Priozersk
The command has had the following commanders:
It is located within the administrative boundaries of East Kazakhstan and Pavlodar Province. The District has the following units:
  • 3rd Mechanized Brigade at Ayaguz
  • 3rd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade at Usharal
  • 4th Mechanized Brigade at Novo-Akhmirovo, Ust-Kamenogorsk
  • 8th Mechanized Brigade at Semey. On 14 November 2016 the brigade, Military Unit 30217, celebrated the 27th anniversary of its originator, the 71st Motor Rifle Division.
  • 11th Tank Brigade at Ayagoz
  • 34th Artillery Brigade at Usharal
  • 101st Missile Brigade at Semey
  • 102nd Rocket Artillery Brigade at Semey
  • 103rd Cannon Artillery Brigade at Semey
  • Separate Reconnaissance Regiment at Semey
  • Separate Communications Brigade at Semey
  • Artillery Brigade
  • Air Defence Missile Brigade
  • Three Storage Bases
The command has had the following commanders:
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:
The command has had the following commanders:
It is located within the administrative boundaries of Almaty Province, Zhambyl Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Kyzylorda Province. The district's main task is ensuring security in the southeastern borders of the country. The District includes the following:
The command has had the following commanders:
The Kazakh Air Assault Forces were formed by grouping the 35th Guards Air Assault Brigade 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.
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.
The current commander is Colonel Askar Zholamanov. 19 November is celebrated as the Day of Missile Forces and Artillery.

Training

Military Institute

The Military Institute of the Kazakh Ground Forces 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.

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:
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.

Foreign education

Some of Kazakhstan's officers have trained at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Equipment

Small arms

Main battle tanks

Infantry fighting vehicles

Tank support combat vehicles

Armored personnel carriers

Combat reconnaissance and reconnaissance patrol vehicles

Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles