Turkestan Military District The Turkestan Military District ( , " Turkestansky voyenyi okrug ( TurkVO ) " ) was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces , with its headquarters at Tashkent . The District was first created during the 1874 Russian military reform when by order of Minister D . A . Milyutinym the territory of Russia was divided into fourteen military districts . Its first commander was Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman , who was also Governor - General of Russian Turkestan at the time . Central Asian Military District . From 1918 to 1926 the District was referred to as the " Turkestani Front " as its forces were conducting active operations , against the Basmachi Revolt , throughout practically all the District ' s territory . In October 1919 , Gleb Bokii was sent by Cheka head Felix Dzerzhinsky to Tashkent to head the operations of the Cheka in the Turkestan Front . By USSR Order No . 304 of June , 4th , 1926 the Turkestani front was renamed as the " Central Asian Military District ( САВО ) " , included territories Turkmen and Uzbek SSRs , Kirghiz and Tadjik ASSRs . In connection with changes of administrative - territorial division of republics and areas of Central Asia as of August , 1940 the district included the Kazakh , Kirghiz , Tadjik , Turkmen , and Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic s . On 22 June 1941 the Central Asian Military District included the 4th Cavalry Corps ( 18th , 20th , and 21st Mountain Cavalry Divisions ) , the 27th Mechanised Corps ( 9th and 53rd Tank Divisions and 221st Mechanised Division , the 58th Rifle Corps , and the independent 238th Polish Rifle Division , as well as the Air Forces of the Central Asian Military District ( under General Major M . P . Kharitonov , including 4th Aviation Brigade with 34th Bomber Aviation Regt ( SBs ) ( Tashkent ) and 116th Regiment ( I - 153s ) at Stalinabad ) and district troops . TurkVO . The District was re - created on 9 July 1945 after the division of the Central Asian Military District into the Turkestan and Steppe Military District s . The new Turkestan and Steppe District were formed from the headquarters of the 1st and 4th Shock Armies respectively . In July 1946 the Steppe Military District was dissolved and its responsibilities transferred back to the Turkestan Military District . In January 1958 from the abolished South Ural Military District the Turkestan District gained the territories of Aktyubinsk , Guryev and the West - Kazakhstan areas of the Kazakh SSR . In 1957 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division , the former 5th Guards Mechanised Corps that had ended the war in Germany with 4th Tank Army , moved to Kushka in the Turkmen SSR . Initially it covered most of Soviet Central Asia , on June 24 , 1969 the district was split to recreate the Central Asian Military District ( SAVO ) following difficulties between the USSR and the People ' s Republic of China , covering the Tajik SSR , the Kyrgyz SSR , and the Kazakh SSR with headquarters at Alma - Ata . SAVO eventually was merged back into the TurkVO . 73rd Air Army was reestablished to provide air support for the Central Asian Military District . 32nd Army ' s Second Formation was established at Semipalatinsk in 1969 on the basis of the 1st Army Corps ( ? ) almost simultaneously with the creation of the Central Asian Military District as a result of the tensions with China . The 32nd Army initially combined the former Ukraine - based 167th MRD , the Тurkmenistan - based 155th MRD ( was the 16th Mech Div , then 15th Tank Division ) and 78th Тank Division ( was the 78th Rifle Division , then 19th Мech Div . and 15th Тank Div ) , being in east Kazakhstan 203rd MRD ( was 203rd and 30th Rifle Division , then 102nd MRD ) . In 1988 the CAMD included the 32nd Army and 17th Army Corps and troops directly suborfinate to district command . Air support was carried out by the 73rd Air Army , and air defence by the 12th and 14th Air Defence Armies . The 32nd Army ( headquartered in Semipalatinsk ) includes a tank and three motor rifle divisions , anti - aircraft and missile brigades , artillery and rocket regiments , separate Flame - tank Regiment , and others . The 17th Army Corps ( headquartered in Frunze ) included the 8th Guards Motor Rifle Division ( Frunze ) and the 68th Motor Rifle Division ( Sary Ozek ) ( the former 372nd Rifle Division , 68th Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade ( Osh ) , and the 30th independent Motor Rifle Regiment ( Kurdai ) , plus a separate battalion . District units included the 80th Guards Training Motor Rifle Division and the 134th Motor Rifle Division , two communications brigades , a chemical protection missile brigade , a separate air assault battalion , and the 23rd independent Helicopter Transport Regiment ( Dushanbe ) . Thus the Turkestan Military District covered only the Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR . In the 1980s the District became part of the Southern Strategic Direction alongside the North Caucasus and Transcaucasus Military Districts . General Igor Rodionov commanded the District in 1985 - 6 . Within the District ' s territory and under its command was the 40th Army , in Afghanistan , the 36th Army Corps , and other forces , totalling one VDV airlanding ( the 105th Guards Airborne Division at Fergana ) and 8 motor rifle divisions . Aviation support for the district was provided by the 49th Air Army , and air defence by the 12th Army of the Air Defence Forces . In 1988 - 9 , these forces included the : Fighter Regiments of the 12th Army PVO in 1988 However from June 1 , 1989 , the Central Asian Military District was disbanded and its territory again incorporated into the Turkestan Military District , as part of the unilateral reductions which Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had announced at the United Nations on 7 December 1988 . After the withdrawal from Afghanistan 40th Army was disbanded . But in June 1991 it was reformed at Semipalatinsk from 32nd Army . Immediately prior to its dissolution , the 32nd Army consisted of the 78th Tank Division ( Ayaguz ) ; the 5202nd Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment ( VKhVT ) Semipalatinsk , ( prior to 1989 - the 167th Sumy - Kiev Motor Rifle Division ) ; the 5203rd VKhVT Ust - Kamenogorsk ( prior to 1989 , the 155th Motor Rifle Division ) ; and the 5204th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment at Karaganda ( prior to 1989 - the 203rd Zaporozhye Khingan Motor Rifle Division ) . The District was finally dissolved on June 30 , 1992 with the demise of the Soviet Union , when its forces were distributed between 5 new Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan , Kirghizia , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan . The most powerful grouping went to become the core of the Military of Kazakhstan which acquired all the units of the 40th ( the former 32nd ) Army and part of the 17th Army Corps , including 6 land force divisions , storage bases , the 14th and 35th air - landing brigades , 2 rocket brigades , 2 artillery regiments and a large amount of equipment which had been withdrawn from over the Urals after the signing of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe . The Museum of history of The Turkestan Military District is on Gorki Avenue in Tashkent , Uzbekistan .