Belorussian Military District
Tankayev graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow in 1948 and served in the Belorussian Military District afterward. He was promoted from colonel to major-general in 1958 and was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1959. Tankayev graduated from the General Staff Academy in 1960 and led the elite 106th Guards Airborne Division in 1960-1961.