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Czechoslovakia Soviet Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia
Soviet influence within the armed forces became even stronger
after 1968 because of the units left behind after the withdrawal
of the main invasion forces. Resignations and purges eliminated
the officers and NCOs who would have objected to the Soviet
occupation, whereas those who remained on active duty and those
recruited to replace losses were inclined to favor strong Soviet
ties. In late 1987, nearly two decades after the invasion, five
Soviet divisions were still stationed in Czechoslovakia and, to
all outward appearances, Soviet influence was undiminished.
Soviet military units deployed outside the borders of the
Soviet Union after World War II have been organized in groups
rather than in fronts, which was the wartime designation of these
major formations. Throughout the postwar era, the largest
deployment of Soviet forces outside its borders has been the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany located in East Germany. Other
groups were the Northern Group of Forces in Poland, the Southern
Group of Forces in Hungary, and the Central Group of Forces in
Czechoslovakia. The Central Group of forces comprised two tank
divisions, three mechanized infantry divisions, three missle
brigades, an artillery brigade, and an airborne assault brigade.
Total strength was about 85,000. Group headquarters was located
in the town of Milovice, northwest of Prague. In October 1984,
Colonel General Viktor Yermakov was named by Moscow to command
the Central Group of Forces, replacing Lieutenant General
Grigoriy Borisov, who had assumed command in January 1981.
Four of the five Soviet ground divisions in Czechoslovakia
were stationed in the Czech lands (Milovice, Mlada Boleslav,
Vysoke Myto, and Bruntal), while one was headquartered in
Slovakia (Zvolen). Armaments in early 1987 included 1,500 main
battle tanks, 650 artillery pieces, 90 multipurpose rocket
launchers, and 300 front-line aircraft, including 120
helicopters. The aircraft inventory also included Su-25 ground
attack airplanes. The Central Group of Forces also possessed
fifty operational and operational-tactical nuclear missiles
consisting of SS-21s, SS-22s, and SS-23s. The SS-21 sites
included Zvolen, Topolcany, and Vysoke Myto in Slovakia, and at
Plzen, Ceske-Budejovice, Mlada Boleslav, Susice, Milovice, Brod
nad Dyji, Havlickuv Brod, Bruntal, and Tabor in the Czech lands.
In 1983 the Czechoslovak government attempted to muster public
support for the decision to install these missiles. The
Czechoslovak citizenry, however, realizing that their country had
now become a primary target in a future war, did not support the
installation.
The Central Group of Forces is a legacy of the 1968 invasion;
until that event, Czechoslovakia had had no Soviet troops
stationed permanently within its borders. The degree of
permanence of the Central Group of Forces has in the past
appeared to be a matter of semantics. For several years after the
invasion, the deployment was referred to officially as
"temporary," and a commission for the Temporary Stationing of
Soviet Forces on Czechoslovak Territory existed for at least the
first ten years. The Soviet purpose in maintaining troop units of
the magnitude of the Central Group of Forces is undoubtedly
twofold: first, to avoid any future Dubcek-like deviations and,
second, to increase substantially the strength of the Warsaw Pact
on its westernmost frontier.
Data as of August 1987
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