Regional commanders control and administer bases, logistics, and housing, as well as conscript training.
Commanders of army divisions and brigades, air force installations, and naval forces report directly to the Ministry of National Defense and service chiefs of staff on operational matters.
Adjacent to Morocco, the 3rd Military Region straddles the main access routes from that country.
It also borders the Western Sahara, embracing territory previously claimed by Morocco.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies in the Military Balance 2020 wrote that the 40th Mechanised Division was located at Béchar and the 38th Motorised Brigade at Tindouf.