 The division was formed from the 17th Airborne Training Centre at Dyatkovo, the 78th Separate Self-Propelled Artillery Training Battalion at Kaunas, and the 11th School for Junior Specialists of the Medical Service at Ostrov.The vast majority of officers had experience in training units of the regimental schools, which had been disbanded at the same time.Among the officers selected to staff the training centre were 131 veterans of the Great Patriotic War.