The 19th Motor Rifle Division appears to have been formed originally in July 1922 at Tambov

Tambov

Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...

 in the Moscow Military District

Moscow Military District

The Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.-History:In the beginning of...

 as a territorial formation. In 1923 it was awarded the 'Tambov' placename and renamed the 19th Voronezh Rifle Division.

During the war it served successively with the 24th, 43rd, 5th, 20th, 3rd Guards Tank

3rd Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)

The 3rd Guards Tank Army was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945...

, 57th, 37th, 7th Guards, and 46th Armies. It conducted defensive operations near Elnia and was fought during the Battle of Moscow

Battle of Moscow

The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...

. In 1942 and 1943 it defended in the Gzatsk and Kharkov areas, took part in the Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation

Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation

The Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation was an operation conducted as part of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev between the Red Army and Wehrmacht forces...

 (3 August 1943 - 23 August 1943) (a part of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev

Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev was a code name for the Belgorod-Kharkov Strategic Offensive Operation conducted by the Red Army between 3 August 1943 and 23 August 1943 against the Wehrmacht's 4th Panzer Army and Army Group Kempf during World War II. The operation was conducted by the Voronezh...

) as part of the 7th Guards Army

7th Guards Army

The Red Army's 7th Guards Army was re-designated from the Soviet 64th Army on April 16, 1943.64th Army had originally been formed from 1st Reserve Army in July 1942, and alongside the 62nd Army, fought the German offensive during the Battle of Stalingrad to a standstill, for which it was raised to...

, and the liberation of the Ukraine. In 1944 its combat part took it through Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia where it ended the war. In September 1944 it was given the 'Shumlin' place name honorific.

Until 1957 the Division remained titled the 19th Rifle Division, its Second World War designation. It was briefly the 92nd Motor Rifle Division from 1957 to 1965 but in 1965 became again the 19th Motor Rifle Division. It arrived in the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

 region by the mid 1950s and has been stationed for many years at Vladikavkaz

Vladikavkaz

-Notable structures:In Vladikavkaz, there is a guyed TV mast, tall, built in 1961, which has six crossbars with gangways in two levels running from the mast structure to the guys.-Twin towns/sister cities:...

. In the late 1980s it was part of the 42nd Army Corps at Volgograd

Volgograd

Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River...

 and consisted of the 397th Tank Regiment, and the 201st, 429th, and 503rd Motor Rifle Regiments.

Today after reshuffling of units during the last fifteen years it is part of the reformed 58th Army, in the North Caucasus Military District

North Caucasus Military District

The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Ground Forces, which became in 2010 the Southern Military District and lately also includes the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla....

. Division honorifics are - Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Воронежско-Шумлинская краснознаменная, орденов Суворова, Трудового Красного Знамени.

On August 8, 2008, elements of the 19th Motor Rifle Division (at least 503rd Motor Rifle Reg.) entered South Ossetia

South Ossetia

South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....

.

In 2009 as part of the wider restructuring of the Russian Ground Forces

Russian Ground Forces

The Russian Ground Forces are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force...

 the division became the 19th Motor Rifle Brigade.

Subordinated units

• 429th Motor Rifle Regiment
• 503rd Motor Rifle Regiment
• 693rd Motor Rifle Regiment
• 292nd Self-propelled Artillery Regiment
• 481st Air-Defence Missile Regiment
• 141st Separate Tank Battalion
• Engineer Battalion
• Military Intelligence Battalion
• Signal Battalion
• Chemical Battalion
• Supply Battalion
• Maintenance Battalion
• Medical Battalion

Personnel and Equipment

The 19th Motor Rifle Division currently has approximately 11,000 personnel in active service.

Equipment Summary

Equipment	Numbers
Main Battle Tanks	120 (T-72 T-72 The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A... )
APC Armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...  & IFV	330
Self Propelled Artillery	72 (2S3 Akatsiya 2S3 Akatsiya SO-152 is a Soviet 152.4 mm self-propelled artillery developed in 1968. It was a response to the American 155 mm M109. The development started in 1967 according to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of USSR from July 4, 1967. In 1968 the SO-152 was completed and in 1971 entered... )
Multiple Rocket Launchers	16

Sources and references

• Feskov et al., 'The Soviet Army in the period of the Cold War'
• Crofoot et al., 'Armies of the Bear'
• Aberjona Press, 'Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front'
• See also http://www.soldat.ru/forum/?gb=3&id=33194