page_title: 3rd Division (Iraq)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: 3rd Division (Iraq) / History
caption_attribution_description: Iraqi soldiers of 1st Battalion, 11th Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army Division, enter and clear a room during military urban operations training at Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center, Jan. 23, 2011. The month-long cycle of military exercises is part of an Iraqi-directed program, Tadreeb al Shamil, Arabic for All-Inclusive Training, preparing IA units to conduct tactical military operations and national defense. U.S. soldiers with 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, supervised, mentored and trained soldiers of 1st Bn., 11th Bde., during the training rotations at GWTC. 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment Photo by Sgt. Shawn Miller Date Taken:01.23.2011 Location:MOSUL, IQ Related Photos: dvidshub.net/r/g3wvjs
context_page_description: The 3rd Division was a formation of the Iraqi Army. It was active by 1941, disbanded along with the rest of the Iraqi Army in 2003, but reactivated by 2005. It was effectively destroyed when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took Mosul in June–July 2014.
context_section_description: Before being disbanded in 2003, the previous 3rd Division had been one of the four original divisions of the Iraqi Army, being active in 1941 during the Anglo-Iraqi War. The division's most notable activity in the war came on 22 May when the division's 6th Infantry Brigade staged a counterattack against British forces in Fallujah which was repulsed.
  In July 1958 elements of the division had overthrown the Iraqi government in the 14 July Revolution, with Abd al-Karim Qasim, commander of the 20th Infantry Brigade (an armoured brigade according to Darwish and Alexander) stationed near Ba'quba, the originator of the coup. However the actual overthrow was led by a battalion commander, Abdul Salam Arif, in the 19th Infantry Brigade.
  Some time in the 1950s or 1960s the division was converted into the 3rd Armoured Division, which was deployed to the 1967 Six-Day War. Iraqi participation in the Six Day War was limited, principally owing to the slow reaction of the 3rd Armoured Division, which had been stationed in eastern Jordan. The 3rd Armoured Division did not organise itself and reach the front line before the Jordanians ceased operations. Later during the events of Black September in Jordan, 1970, the division was still stationed in northeast Jordan. Though the Jordanians needed forces to repel the Syrian invasion, they had to keep the 99th Brigade of their 3rd Armoured Division out of the conflict so that they could watch the Iraqi division.
  The 3rd Armoured Division saw service later in the Yom Kippur War, under the command of Brigadier General Lafta and Abdul-Jawad Dhannoun, and was deployed alongside the Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade. By that time, 'the division was the elite unit of the army, and Iraqi officers avidly competed to be assigned to it.' The Division suffered heavy casualties during the war, losing more than 157 tanks, 278 dead and 898 wounded. The 8th Mechanised Brigade was completely destroyed on 13 October in an ambush set by four Israeli armoured brigades at Tel Shaar, between Maschara and Nasej. The division later fought in the Iran–Iraq War. Commander of the division Brig. Gen. Juwad Asaad was among the commanders executed by Saddam Hussein due to heavy losses in Operation Jerusalem launched by Iran. It also fought Persian Gulf War, operations in the 1990s, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Just before the Iraq War it was part of the 2nd Corps, on the Iranian border. It comprised the 6th Armoured Brigade, 12th Armoured Brigade, and 8th Mechanised Brigade. It was disbanded when the Iraqi Armed Forces were formally dissolved by Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2.
caption: Soldiers of the 3rd Division during a training exercise in 2011
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