The division traced its lineage back to the World War II 3rd Tank Corps, formed in the spring of 1942.

In the summer of 1945, the corps became a tank division and was relocated to Neustrelitz, becoming part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG).

The division served with the GSFG through the Cold War and after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992 began a withdrawal to Russia which was completed in 1993.

The offensive was unsuccessful due to fuel shortages and German air superiority, and ended with only 200 tanks remaining in the army.

The corps unloaded at the Kalach rail station and from there its tank brigades conducted a 300 kilometer march to its positions for the forthcoming offensive.

[2] The corps fought in Operation Gallop, a Soviet counteroffensive after the Battle of Stalingrad, which attempted to encircle all German troops east of Donetsk.

[9] The corps was given the mission of cooperating with the 57th Guards Rifle Division in advancing southwest from the 6th Army sector to Sloviansk, which was to be captured by 4 February.

The tank corps of Group Popov were brought in as reinforcements, including the 3rd, and they were able to encircle the city, which fell after holding out for more than a week.

Following the advance of the 38th Guards Rifle Division, the corps reached the area northeast of Sloviansk by 4 February.

The German troops were reinforced by the 333rd Infantry Division, which claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on both corps, which now defended Kramatorsk with their tanks.

[15] The corps with twelve tanks was pushed back by the German counterattack which began the Third Battle of Kharkov on 19 February, suffering heavy losses to the 11th Panzer Division in the Andreyevka area.

The corps was forced to retreat northwards and was attacked by SS Division Wiking at Novopetrivka on 22 February.

By 24 February the corps and the remnants of the Mobile Group were providing limited tank support to the defensive line of the 195th Rifle Division northwest of Stepanivka.

[18] Two brigades of the corps defended Barvinkove along with remnants of Group Popov and the 1st Guards Army until the German breakthrough to the Donets on 28 February.

On the morning of 8 April the Front commander, Marshal Ivan Konev, ordered an advance towards the Romanian town of Târgu Frumos.

By 12 April, 2nd Tank Army had managed to concentrate about 15 km north of Podu Iloaiei, and Konev ordered an attack to eliminate the salient held by 24th Panzer.

The next day, 3rd Tank Corps, with about 80 tanks supported by its own 57th Motor Rifle Brigade and the 93rd Guards Rifle Division made modest gains until being counterattacked by two armored battle groups against its flanks, which brought the assault to a halt and temporarily ended the Soviet offensive on this sector.

[21] Konev planned a second drive on Târgu Frumos to start on 27 April, but due to a complex regrouping of his forces this had to be pushed back to 2 May.

After a 30-minute artillery preparation, and against stubborn resistance, 35th Guards Rifle Corps, in coordination with 2nd Tank Army units, wedged into the German defenses and advanced 4 – 6 km along the Târgu Frumos axis by 1100 hrs., at which point counterattacks by infantry and up to 70 tanks pressed the attackers back somewhat.

Following this:"The units of the 3rd Tank Corps fought with mixed success in the vicinity of Hills 256 and 197 [seven kilometres north of Târgu Frumos] and the northern outskirts of Cucuteni throughout the entire day.

While elements of 2nd Tank Army penetrated for a second time to the northern outskirts of the objective, losses forced them back to the start line by the afternoon.

[25] Near the end of May Konev planned to renew his offensive by regrouping 2nd Tank Army and other forces north and northwest of Jassy.

This was pre-empted on 30 May when German Eighth Army launched Operation "Sonja" to drive Soviet forces back from the city.

At mid-morning that day, the Corps was ordered to the vicinity of Movileni Station, where it fended off an attack by forward elements of Grossdeutchland.

Markovsky was purpose-built for the division to provide housing to its soldiers, and construction was paid for by the German government under the withdrawal agreements.

In March 1997, the division was reorganized into the 5967th Guards Weapons and Equipment Storage Base for armored troops.