This brigade was one of a series of "student" rifle brigades formed from military schools and reserve units starting in October 1941 in the Central Asia Military District. It was first assigned to the 16th Army in Western Front by the beginning of December but by the start of the new year had been shifted to 5th Army in the same Front. Later in January it was pulled out of the fighting line and moved north where it joined the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps in the reserves of Kalinin Front. Through the rest of the winter it took part in the battles in the Rzhev - Toropets area, and in late April was reassigned to the 1st Shock Army in Northwestern Front where it became involved in the complex and bloody struggles around the Demyansk Pocket. In September the 37th was withdrawn into the Reserve of the Supreme High Command and assigned to the forming 2nd Reserve Army. In late December it was moved south where it joined the reserves of Bryansk Front but in February 1943 it was reassigned to Voronezh Front. During this month it was caught up in the German counteroffensive at Kharkov and suffered considerable losses. After the German offensive ground to a halt the brigade was reassigned to the newly-forming 69th Army and later to 38th Army which was digging in on the right flank of Voronezh Front deep within the Kursk salient.