83rd Group Army

The 83rd Group Army, formerly the 54th Group Army, is one of three People's Liberation Army group armies assigned to the Jinan Military Region.

History
In 1959, it participated in Tibet insurgency operations. It participated in the Sino-Indian War of 1962. In 1979, it participated in the Sino-Vietnamese War along the Western battle line. At that time the 127th division commander was Zhang Wannian, later the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. The 127th division captured the town of Lang Son, defeating the Vietnamese army main force. In 1985, the 54th Army reorganized into one of the People's Liberation Army's three rapid response (strategic reserve) armies (the other two being the 38th Army and the 39th Army), which belongs to the forces. Troops from the army were deployed into Beijing in June 1989 and participated in the anti-protestor clearance operations.

Structure
In 1985, the 127th Division transferred into the army. The 161st Division was reorganised as an artillery brigade. After 1998, the 127th Infantry Division was converted to a light mechanized infantry division, and the 160th infantry division reorganised as a motorized brigade. In 2009, the 162nd Infantry Division converted to a mechanized wheeled infantry division, using 8x8 wheeled vehicles.

The army comprises:
 * 127th Light Mechanized Infantry Division
 * Light Mechanized Infantry Division
 * 160th Mechanized Infantry Brigade (99G main battle tank, 04A type infantry fighting vehicle)
 * 11th Armored Brigade
 * Artillery brigade (PHL03 300 mm long-range rockets, HJ9 self-anti-tank missiles)
 * Air defence brigade

Today it includes the 162nd Motorized Infantry Division, the 127th Lt Mech Infantry Division, the 11th Armoured Division (Xinyang, Henan), an artillery brigade, the 1st Air Defence Brigade, and the 1st Army Aviation Regiment. The former 160th Infantry Brigade appears to have been deactivated in 2003.

Commanders

 * Ding Sheng (1952.10-1955.12)
 * Ouyang Jiaxiang (1955.12-1957.09)
 * Ding Sheng (1957.09-1964.09)
 * Wei Tongtai (1964.09-1969.06)
 * Han Huaizhi (1969.06-1980.05)
 * Li Jiulong (1980.05-1985.06)
 * Zhu Chao (1985.08-1990.06)
 * Liang Guanglie (1990.06-1993.12)
 * Zhang Xianglin (1993.12-1998.12)
 * Huang Hanbiao (1998.12-2006.08)
 * Song Puxuan (2006.08-2009.02)
 * Rong Guiqing (2009.02-2014.12)
 * Shi Zhenglu (2014.12-2017.04)
 * Xie Zenggang