Operational Command West

Operational Command West
OC West (in green)
Active	1998–present
Country	Ukraine
Branch	Ukrainian Ground Forces
Type	Military district
Garrison/HQ	Rivne
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Oleksandr Pavlyuk
Insignia
Operational Command West Shoulder sleeve insignia
Western Operational Command Shoulder sleeve insignia

Operational Command West (OC West) is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in western Ukraine. Its headquarters is located in Rivne.

History

When Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union, there were three Military Districts on its territory. These were the Kiev, Odessa and Carpathian Military Districts. In 1998, the Western Operational Command was created from the Carpathian Military District.

By 1 July 2006, the Western Operational Command consisted of units directly subordinated to the command and to the 13th Army Corps. These units were:

• 7th Separate Army Aviation Regiment
• 11th Separate Artillery Brigade
• 15th Rocket Artillery Regiment
• 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade
• 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade
• 55th Separate Communications Regiment
• 80th Airmobile Regiment
• 146th Reconnaissance and Command Center
• 59th Artillery Regiment
• 128th Separate Mountain Infantry Brigade
• 703rd Engineering Regiment
• 704th Separate Chemical Defense Regiment

In October 2013, Operational Command North was created in Rivne. The Western Operational Command's headquarters was moved to Lviv and disbanded in August 2015. In November 2013, the 80th Airmobile Regiment was upgraded to brigade strength. From the beginning of 2015, Operational Command North was moved to Chernihiv. Operational Command West headquarters remained in Rivne. Major General Ihor Dovhan led the command from 2015.

In October 2015, the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade was formed in the command. During late January and early February 2016, units of Operational Command West participated in joint training exercises with British instructors in Rivne. On 5 February, the command was assigned responsibility for Ground Forces troops in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernivtsi Oblasts. As of December of that year, it included the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade, the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, 128th Separate Mountain Brigade, and 44th Separate Artillery Brigade. In March 2017, Major General Oleksandr Pavlyuk became commander of OC West after Dovhan was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Ground Forces for Combat Training.

Current Structure

Structure of the Operational Command West in 2017 as per the best available Ukrainian language sources.

Operational Command West has operational command of ground force units in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernivtsi oblasts.

• Operational Command West, Rivne
  • 10th Mountain Assault Brigade, Kolomyia
  • 14th Mechanized Brigade, Volodymyr-Volynskyi
  • 24th Mechanized Brigade, Yavoriv
  • 128th Mountain Brigade, Mukachevo
  • 44th Artillery Brigade, Ternopil
  • 39th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment, Volodymyr-Volynskyi
  • 703rd Engineer Regiment, Sambir
  • 55th Signal Regiment, Rivne
  • 146th Maintenance Regiment, Zolochiv
  • 136th Reconnaissance Battalion, Rivne
  • 182nd Logistic Support Battalion, Berezhany
  • 224th Transport Battalion, Shepetivka
  • 394th Security & Service Battalion, Rivne
  • 146th Command & Intelligence Center, Rivne
  • 346th Information & Signal Center, Rivne
  • Regional Radioelectronic Intelligence (REI) Center, Brody
    • 71st Maneuverable REI Center, Kovel
    • 84th REI Center, Vynohradiv
    • 99th REI Center, Serebriya
  • 201st Electronic Warfare Company, Rivne
  • 233rd Joint Training Range, Mala Lyubash

Additionally the following major ground combat formations of other branches of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, respectively the ground forces, are based in the area of Operational Command West:

• Ground Forces:
  • 19th Missile Brigade "Zaporizhia", in Khmelnytskyi
  • 12th Army Aviation Brigade, in Novyi Kalyniv
  • 16th Army Aviation Brigade, in Brody
  • 15th Rocket Artillery Regiment "Kyiv" (BM-30 Smerch), Drogobych
• Air Assault Forces:
  • 80th Air Assault Brigade, in Lviv
• Air Forces:
  • 11th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment, in Shepetivka
  • 223rd Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment, in Stryi
  • 540th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment, in Kamianka-Buzka
• Special Forces:
  • 8th Special Forces Regiment, in Khmelnytskyi

Commanders

• Lieutenant General Valeriy Stepanov (1992)
• Colonel General Vasyl Sobkov (1993–1994)
• Colonel General Petro Shuliak (1994–1998)
• Colonel General Serhiy Chernilevsky (1998–1999)
• Colonel General Mykola Petruk (2003–2004)
• Lieutenant General Mykhailo Kutsyn (2004–2010)
• Major General Viktor Hanushchak (2010; acting)
• Lieutenant General Yuri Domanskii (2010 – May 2012)
• Lieutenant General Ihor Kolesnik (?-2015)
• Major General Ihor Dovhan (2015–March 2017)
• Major General Oleksandr Pavlyuk (March 2017–present)

External links

• Official website