Declassified CIA documents from February 1987 say that the 3rd Corps and 17th and 18th Armoured Divisions were established in 1986.

[2] The three corps were formed "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.

"[3] 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.

[3] On 30 December 2023, Major General Ahmed Moalla was named as commander of the 3rd Corps.

[3] It now appears that the 2nd Reserve Armoured Division may never have existed.