Belarusian Ground Forces

The Belarusian Ground Forces is the service branch of the Armed Forces of Belarus. It is considered to be the seniormost and notable service branch in the armed forces. The current commander-in-chief of the ground forces is Major General Alexander Nikitin.

History
The ground forces were founded on March 20, 1992, on the same day the Defence Ministry of Belarus was established. By 1994, the ground forces had over 50,000 troops, most being former soldiers of the Soviet Army's Belorussian Military District. The army equipment which was used at the time included 79 T-54s, 639 T-55s, 291 T-62s, 299 T-64s, 8 T-80s, and 1,800 T-72s. In December of 2001, the Ground Forces underwent a major reorganization which produced two operational-territorial commands which are similar to Russia's military districts. The two commands that were formed from this reorganization were the Western Operational Command at Grodno, and the North Western Operational Command, at Barysaw.

Headquarters (Minsk)

 * Headquarters of the Armed Forces
 * Exemplary Military Band
 * Honor Guard of the Armed Forces of Belarus
 * 465th Missile Brigade
 * 336th Missile Artillery Brigade
 * 51st Guards Mixed Artillery Group
 * 188th Engineer Brigade
 * 52nd Specialized Search Battalion
 * Cynological Center of the Armed Forces

Western Operational Command

 * 6th Mechanised Brigade
 * 11th Mechanised Brigade
 * 111th Artillery Brigade
 * 1199th Mixed Artillery Regiment
 * 557th Engineering Brigade
 * 74th Separate Communications Regiment
 * 815th Maintenance Center
 * 108th Material Support Brigade

North Western Operational Command

 * 120th Mechanised Brigade
 * 19th Guards Mechanized Brigade
 * 103rd Mobile Brigade
 * 38th Mobile Brigade
 * 5th Spetsnaz Brigade
 * 22nd Rocket Brigade (until 2005)
 * 51st Guards Artillery Brigade
 * 72nd Guards Joint Training Centre