The 3rd Corps is a
corps of the
Syrian Army that was first formed in 1985. Richard Bennett wrote in 2001 that "three corps were 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."[4] The 3rd Corps HQ was in
Aleppo, based in the north and covered Hama, the Turkish and Iraqi borders, the Mediterranean coastline and was tasked with protecting the complex of
chemical and
biological warfare and missile production and launch facilities.[2] On 30 December 2023, Major General Ahmed Moalla was named as commander of the 3rd Corps.
Structure in 2001
2nd Reserve Armored Division
14th and 15th Armored Brigades
19th Mechanized Brigade
Coastal Defense Brigade
Other units under the control of this corps included four independent infantry brigades, one border guard brigade, one independent armored regiment, effectively a brigade group, and one special forces regiment.