2nd Guards Tank Army The Second Tank Army of the Red Army was formed in January - February , 1943 on the basis of the 3rd Reserve Army of the Bryansk Front . Originally the Army comprised 11th and 16th Tank Corps , 60th , 112th and 194th Rifle Divisions , the 11th Guards Separate tank brigade , 115th Rifle Brigade , the 28th ski brigade and other units . Combat history . In the middle of February the army joined the Soviet Central Front and as part of Central Front in February - March took part in offensive operation on the direction of Bryansk ; in July - August - took part in the Orel strategic offensive operation - Operation Kutuzov - within the Kromy ’ - Orel offensive operation and the Chernigov - Pripyat offensive operation ( 26 . 08 - 30 . 09 . 1943 ) operations . In the beginning of September 1943 the Army was redeployed to the Stavka VGK reserve , and in the middle of January 1944 joined the 1st Ukrainian Front and remained in its structure until the end of January when it participated in repulsing counter - strokes of the German forces in the direction of Vinnitsa ; in February the army participated in the south - west in the area of the cities of Korsun - Shevchenkovsky operation . As part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front , and from the middle of June 1944 within the 1st Belorussian Front , the Army participated in the Uman - Botoshany offensive , Lublin - Brest , Warsaw - Poznan offensive , the East Pomeranian Offensive , the Seelow - Berlin offensive operation and the Battle for Berlin operations . Combat awards . For services in combat operations listed above the Army became the 2nd Guards Tank Army in November 1944 and almost all of its formations and units received combat awards , with the majority of sub - units awarded honourable names commemorating operations they distinguished themselves in . Over 103 , 000 soldiers of the army were awarded awards and medals , 221 of them being awarded the decoration of the Hero of the Soviet Union , while Semyon Bogdanov was awarded the HSU ' s Gold Star twice . Post - war service . After the war ended the Army , now named Second Guards Red Banner Tank Army , was located with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany with the staff in Fuerstenberg . However the only wartime formation that continued to serve with the Army was the 16th Guard TD ( the former 9th Guards Tank Corps ) . Although up to the 1970s it had retained of its wartime units - 12th Guards Tank Division ( the former 12th Tank Corps ) and 35th Motor Rifle Division ( former 1st Mechanised Corps ) , without considering those formations that joined the Army as early as 1946 . The three last wartime divisions were replaced at the end of the 1970s - the 94th Guards , 21st and 207th Motorised Rifle Divisions . Post - Cold War service . The Army was withdrawn to Samara in the Volga Military District in 1993 , and converted from a tank formation to a combined - arms army that same year , referred to as 2nd Guards Red Banner Army . It holds the Fighting Banner of the 2nd Guards Tank Army in storage . It was allocated the 16th and 90th Guards Tank Division s for some years before being disbanded in 1998 . 16th Guards Tank Division was reduced to a weapons and equipment storage base in March 1997 . ( Duncan , JIR ? ) The Army was reformed in 2001 from the former Volga MD headquarters and now consists of the 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division and the 201st Motor Rifle Division . In 2006 the Army conducted a large Command - Staff exercise " Southern Shield - 2006 " that included a call up of some 4 - 5 , 000 reservists . The exercise proved successful and confirmed the Army ' s readiness status . , including that of two component divisions which conducted a tactical exercise within the scope of the " Southern Shield - 2006 " . The tactical exercise was again conducted in 2007 by the 27th Motor Rifle Division . This division , and several other Army sub - units are today entirely staffed by service personnel serving under professional contracts . A former commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Army , Army General Nikolai Makarov , became Chief of Material of the Armed Forces , Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation , and is now Chief of General Staff . As of February 2008 , the Army ' s commander was General - Major Oleg Leont ' evich Makarevich ( former Chief of Staff , 22nd Army , Moscow Military District ) .