The 1st Corps () was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

of the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

that was first formed in 1985. Richard Bennett wrote in 2001 that "three corps

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

formed in 1985 to give the Army more flexibility and to improve combat efficiency by decentralising the command structure, absorbing at least some of the lessons learned during the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

." He said that the 1st Corps covered southern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, in particular the heavily fortified defense zone between

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

and south to

Daraa Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

near the border with

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. On 29 December 2022, Major General Suhail Asaad was appointed as commander of the 1st Army Corps of the Syrian Arab Army.الفيلق الأول" السوري... في مواجهة كيان الاحتلال
/ref>

Structure in 2001

Bennett's estimate of the 2001 order of battle was: *1st Corps, HQ Damascus ** 5th Armoured Division, which included the 17th and 96th Armoured Brigades and the 112th Mechanised Brigade ** 6th Armoured Division, with the 12th and 98th Armoured Brigades and the 11th Mechanised Brigades ** 7th Mechanised Division, with the 58th and 68th Armoured Brigades and the 78th Mechanised Brigade ** 8th Armoured Division, which included the 62nd and 65th Armoured Brigades and the 32nd Mechanised Brigade ** 9th Armoured Division, with the 43rd and 91st Armoured Brigades and the 52nd Mechanised Brigade. The 52nd Armoured Brigade was reported in Daraa in May 2013. Bennett said the 1st Corps also had four independent special forces regiments, including two trained for helicopter-inserted commando operations against the Israeli

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

and observation posts on

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...

and elsewhere in the Golan Heights. Cordesman et al. said from 2002 to 2005, the command of the 1st Corps was replaced three times. Tom Cooper wrote that prior to the Syrian Civil War, the 1st Corps' main role was defence against an Israeli invasion over the Golan Heights or through Jordan. It had two lines of defence stretching along the cease-fire lines from 1973, and controlled over four divisions (three mechanised and one armoured), a special forces division and two independent infantry brigades (seemingly the 61st and 90th). The corps commander Major General Faraq Shehada was seized as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

on 29 June 2012.

Structure in 2013

* '' 5th Mechanized Division'' ** 112th Mechanised Brigade - Isra **132nd and 15th Mechanised Brigades (Cooper 2015 says 132nd and 35th Mech Brigades) ** 12th Armoured Brigade - Isra ** 175th Artillery Regiment - Cooper 2015 says this regiment, at Isra equipped with the

2S1 The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (, "Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation") is a Soviet Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled howitzer introduced in 1972 and is in service in Russia and other countries . It is based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mount ...

, was a cadre and never deployed outside its base, and then overrun in February 2014. * ''6th Armoured Division'' ** 45th Regiment ** 85th Brigade ** 76th Armored Brigade - now defunct. Formerly part of 1st Division * ''

7th Mechanized Division The 7th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army, formed three times. The corps was first formed in 1934 in the Leningrad Military District and was converted into the 10th Tank Corps in 1938. The corps was reformed in the summer ...

'' ** 68th, 121st and 88 Mechanised Brigades ** 78th Armoured Brigade ** (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment (nb. Cooper 2015 identified this regiment as the 85th) * '' 9th Armoured Division'' - Major General Yusuf Ahmed ** 33rd, 34th and 43rd Armoured Brigades ** 52nd Mechanised Brigade - disbanded ** (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment (nb. Cooper 2015 identified this regiment as the 15th) In addition, the corps still included the 61st and 90th Infantry Brigades (Independent) in 2013. Within the last one/two years, Brigade 90 has been reported in the

Quneitra Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; , ''al-Qunayṭrah'' or ''al-Qunayṭirah'' ) is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan ...

area, but its base was reportedly overrun by rebels in February 2014.

Structure in 2019

Source: * '' 5th Mechanized Division'' ** 15th, 112th and 132nd Mechanized Brigades ** 12th Armored Brigade ** 38th Infantry Brigade ** 59th

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

Battalion ** 175th Artillery Regiment * '' 6th Armored Division'' (formed in 2015) ** 76th, 85th and 88th Armored Brigades ** 55th Mechanized Brigade ** 45th Special Forces Regiment * ''

'' ** 88th, 90th and 121st Mechanized Brigades ** 78th Armored Brigade ** 70th Artillery Brigade * '' 9th Armored Division'' ** 34th, 43rd and 701st Armored Brigades ** 52nd Mechanized Brigade ** 467th Special Forces Regiment ** 89th Artillery Brigade *

15th Special Forces Division The 15th Special Forces Division () was a division of the Syrian Armed Forces specializing in light infantry operations, based in the As-Suwayda Governorate. The Division was part of the Syrian Army's 1st Corps. Role Syrians used the term "Specia ...

** 35th, 44th and 127th Special Forces Regiments ** 404th and 405th Armored RegimentsArmor depot of the 404th Armored Reg, 15th Special Forces Div.
/ref> ** 176th Artillery Battalion

Notes

*{{cite book, first=Tom, last=Cooper, title=Syrian Conflagration: The Civil War 2011-2013, series=Middle East@War Volume 1, publisher=Helion & Co., isbn=978-1-910294-10-9, year=2015

References

Military units and formations of Syria Military units and formations established in 1985 Corps by country 1985 establishments in Syria Military units and formations disestablished in 2024