Committed to the fighting for Kharkov in March 1943 as part of the Voronezh Front, the 3rd Tank Army was subsequently encircled and virtually destroyed by German forces.

In 1943, the army took part in the Orel offensive and, assigned to the Voronezh and First Ukrainian Fronts, played a leading role in the liberation of Left Bank Ukraine.

It overran the OKH command post at Zossen, headquarters for German Eastern Front operations, on April 21, 1945.

In 1958, the 82nd Motor Rifle Division, the former 9th Mechanized Corps, was withdrawn to Slavuta in the Carpathian Military District, where it disbanded.

[5] In August 1964, the headquarters of the 18th Guards Army was relocated to Alma-Ata, where it became the operational group of the Turkestan Military District.

[6] The operational group was converted back into the 18th Army (without the Guards designation) on 4 March 1969, but was used to activate the headquarters of the Central Asian Military District on 24 June.