This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(July 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

308th Rifle Division (II) (1942–1943) 120th Guards Rifle Division (1943–1957) 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division (1957–2002) 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade (2002–present)
Active	1942–present
Country	Soviet Union (1942–1992) Belarus (1992–present)
Branch	Soviet Army (1942–1992)  Belarusian Ground Forces (1992–present)
Type	Motorized infantry
Part of	North Western Operational Command
Garrison/HQ	Uručča,Minsk
Engagements	World War II Battle of Stalingrad Operation Kutuzov Berlin Offensive
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner  Order of Kutuzov  Order of Suvorov
Battle honours	Rogachev
Commanders
Current commander	ColonelVladimir Kulazhin
Notable commanders	Leonty GurtyevAleksandr Petrovich Chumakov

53°56′54″N27°43′26″E / 53.94833°N 27.72389°E /53.94833; 27.72389

The120th Guards Mechanised Brigade is a mechanised infantrybrigade of theBelarus Ground Forces. It is the heir to the traditions of theRed Army120th Guards Rifle Division which became the120th Guards Motor Rifle Division in 1957.

The 120th Guards Rifle Division was formed by redesignation of the Red Army's308th Rifle Division (Second Formation). The 308th Rifle Division was formed in accordance with Order Number 0044 of theSiberian Military District dated 21 March 1942.^[1] It was formed atOmsk in theSiberian Military District, using 20% Red Army men (active duty), 25% returning wounded veterans, 25% reservists from industry, and 30% new recruits from the classes of 1922-23. Most of the recruits and reservists came fromOmsk Oblast andKrasnoyarsk Krai. When the division left for the west it had 12,133 officers and men assigned.^[2]

The division remained in the Siberian Military District until May 1942 until it was moved to the west. In late May, the division was assigned to the8th Reserve Army in theReserve of the Supreme High Command. On 1 June 1942, the division, still with the 8th Reserve Army, was atSaratov. From August 29 to September 6, 1942, the division covered at least 300 kilometers on foot. On 1 August 1942 the 308th Rifle Division was part of the24th Army in the area of Kotluban. The division joined the active army on 29 August 1942 when it was assigned to the24th Army on theStalingrad Front. The first fight in the division took the 24th Army on the territory of the state farm "Kotluban." The division had to seize the hamlet of Borodkin and Heights 133.4, 143.8 and 154.2. Division troops backed217th Tank Brigade, 136 mortars, heavy artillery regiment in 1936. The enemy forces unleashed on the division powerful artillery fire, mortars, aircraft and tanks.

By the end of September 1942 the division was assigned to the62nd Army inside Stalingrad. In the fighting at Stalingrad the division arrived came on the night of October 2, 1942, under ColonelLeontii Gurtev. As part of GeneralV.I. Chuikov's 62nd Army, the division seized positions in the area of the "Barricades" plant. The division was finally pulled out of the city and the 62nd Army in December with only 500 men still assigned to the division.^[2] For its actions at Stalingrad September to December 1942 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by an order dated 19 June 1943.

Reassigned to theVolga Military District to be rebuilt, the division spent the next several months reconstituting its strength. By 1 March 1943, the division was shipped back to the front and assigned to theKalinin Front reserves and then to the11th Army in the STAVKA reserves.^[2]

The division went back to the front in the3rd Army of theBryansk Front inOperation Kutuzov. Distinguishing itself in combat, the division was awarded Guards status and redesignated the 120th Guards Rifle Division.^[2] During the remainder of 1943 the division participated in the Orel, Bryansk, andGomel - Rechitsa operations.^[3]

As the 308th Rifle Division, the unit had two commanders. Colonel Leontii Nikolaevich Gurt'ev^[3] took over the division on 1 March 1942, was promoted to Major General on 7 December 1942, and was killed in action at Pamanlovo on 3 August 1943. For his actions in taking that town, he became aHero of the Soviet Union posthumously on 27 August 1943. His successor as division commander was Colonel Nikolai Kuz'mich Maslennikov,^[3] who took over officially on 4 August 1943 and was promoted to Major General on 22 September 1943. Maslennikov was commander until the 308th became the 120th Guards Rifle Division in September 1943 in accordance with NKO Order Number 285.

• 339th Rifle Regiment
• 347th Rifle Regiment
• 351st Rifle Regiment
• 1011th Artillery Regiment
• 430th Antitank Battalion
• 699th Sapper Battalion
• 899th Signal Battalion
• Training Battalion

In mid-July 1944 the divisional commander, Major General Ia. Ia. Fogel,^[3] was killed in action. The 120th Guards was frequently assigned to the 41st Rifle Corps,3rd Army, during the war.

In 1944 and 1945 the division participated in theRogachev-Zhlobin,Belarusian,East Prussian and theBerlin offensive operations.^[3] For services in battle the division was awarded the honorary title "Rogachev" (February 1944),^[3] was awarded theOrder of the Red Banner, Suvorov 2nd Class and Kutuzov 2nd class, over 18 thousand of its soldiers awarded orders and medals, eight were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Postwar, the 120th Guards Rifle Division was relocated toUruchcha inMinsk, and was converted into the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division on 20 May 1957.^[4]

In 1963 the 336th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the division was reorganized as the 336th Separate Guards Bialystok Naval Infantry Regiment in the Baltic Fleet, and relocated to the city Baltiysk, becoming the first regiment of Naval Infantry in the resurgentSoviet Navy. It is now in Baltiysk, the336th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade.^[5]

The division was the first formation in the Soviet Union to test prototypes of the newBMP-1 ("objekt 765") infantry fighting vehicle in January–November 1965, under the command of Guards Major Vasiliy Samodelov.

On 31 October 1967, the division received the honorific "named for theSupreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR".^[6]

On 1 June 1982 the division was reorganised as the5th Guards Independent Army Corps with a 2:2 mix of tank and motor rifle brigades and regiments. Major GeneralAlexsandr Chumakov took command. On 1 June 1989 the corps was disbanded and the division reformed, with three motor rifle regiments and one tank regiment.^[4]

The division had its headquarters at Uruchche, and included the 335th Guards Tank Regiment, the 334th Guards and 339th Guards MRRs, the 356th MRR, the 310th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, and the 1045th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment.^[7] After the fall of the Soviet Union, it became part of theBelarus Ground Forces. It is now stationed at Uruchcha, one of themicroraions of Minsk. The 334th Regiment was reassigned to theInternal Troops of Belarus.^[8]

On 1 February 2002, at the end of the reform of the Belarusian Ground Forces, the division was reorganized into the 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade.^[6]

• Major General Nikolay Kuzmich Maslennikov (29 September–15 November 1943)
• Colonel Yan Yanovich Fogel (16 November 1943–died of wounds 14 July 1944; major general from 3 June 1944)
• Colonel Pyotr Sergeyevich Telkov (15 July–21 September 1944)
• Major GeneralNikolay Aleksandrovich Nikitin (22 September–25 December 1944)
• Colonel Pyotr Sergeyevich Telkov (26 December 1944–October 1947; major general 20 April 1945)
• Major General Pavel Grigoryevich Arabey (October 1947–January 1951)
• Colonel Lev Illarionovich Puzanov (12 October 1954–5 November 1956)
• Major GeneralMikhail Zaitsev (January 1967–12 November 1968)
• Major GeneralAleksandr Petrovich Chumakov (August 1980–June 1986)

• Keith E. Bonn, Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005
• V.I. Feskov, Golikov V.I., K.A. Kalashnikov, and S.A. Slugin, The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II, from the Red Army to the Soviet (Part 1: Land Forces). (В.И. Слугин С.А. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска)) Томск, 2013

• Brigades of Belarus
• Mechanised brigades
• Military units and formations established in 2002
• Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles lacking in-text citations from July 2012
• All articles lacking in-text citations
• Coordinates on Wikidata