It was formed on December 5, 1942 by the redesignation of the 1st Guards Army (Second formation), in accordance with a Stavka order dated the same day, as part of the Southwestern Front.

Lieutenant General Dmitry Lelyushenko was appointed to command the formation, and held the reins until March 1943 (and subsequently from August 1943 to February 1944).

Towards the end of the year, the army joined the 4th Ukrainian Front, participating in fierce fighting to eliminate the Nikopol bridgehead.

A few days after the great Soviet offensive of April 16, the 3rd Guards Army kept the pressure on the Germans around Cottbus.

On April 25, when the First Belorussian Front was fighting in the city itself during the Battle of Berlin, the 3rd Guards Army was rushed into positions close to the Berlin-Dresden autobahn "to block all the forest roads leading from east to west."

After the Berlin operation, the Army formed part of the Soviet force for the Prague Offensive.