M. I. Glukhov was appointed first commander of the division, and was succeeded by Grigory F. Gavryushenko in May 1932. in January 1934 the best six skiers of the unit led by Gavryushenko skied from Tyumen to Moscow to report to the 17th Congress of the Communist Party, and a year later this route was repeated by the wives of the commanders of the division – the "daring five" as they were known in Tyumen.

From 13 July to 1 August 1939 the division was relocated to Transbaikalia, based northeast of the Matsievskaya station where the construction of dugouts was begun.

[2] When Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June 1941 the division was located in Chita Oblast at Matsievskaya station, then relocated to the Solovyovsk–Otpor area.

For its "exemplary performance of combat objectives" during the offensive and its "courage and heroism," the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 17 December.

From 14 August to 6 October 1944 the division was in the army reserve, receiving reinforcements and conducting training.

From 7 October the division fought in the Petsamo–Kirkenes offensive to liberate the Polar region as part of the 99th Rifle Corps.

In late March - early April, the division participated in the capture of the naval base and the port of Gdynia and liberation of the "Polish Corridor".

Subsequently, until the beginning of May, the division conducted operations to block and destroy enemy troops on the western coast of the Danzig Bay.