The
International Institute for Strategic Studies listed the formation in 2006 with an estimated 250,000 personnel, three group armies, and two armoured, one mechanised, four motorised, and one artillery division. It also lists two armoured, five motorised, three artillery, four anti-aircraft and one anti-tank brigades as part of the region. Known formations and units in 2006 included the
16th Group Army, headquartered at
Changchun, with a motorised infantry division, motorised infantry brigade, the
4th Armoured Division (
Meihekou, Jilin) and artillery and anti-aircraft brigades, and the
39th Group Army in Liaoning, and the
40th Group Army headquartered at
Jinzhou, Liaoning. The
23rd Group Army was disbanded during the reductions which began in 2003. In Korea in the 1950s, the 23rd Army had included the 67th, 69th, and 73rd Divisions. Two units directly subordinate to the MR headquarters were the 68th Motorized Infantry Brigade, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang (from 23rd Group Army), and the 69th Motorized Infantry Division, Harbin, Heilongjiang (from 23rd Group Army). The Shenyang Military Region Air Force was created in 1955, and the Shenyang MR Air Defence Force was merged into it in 1957. The 1st Air Corps and the Dalian Base (formerly the 3rd Air Corps) were both active within the region in 2001–02. The IISS
Military Balance 2011 listed the
1st Fighter,
11th,
21st Fighter, and
30th Fighter Divisions active in the region as of November 2010 (p. 234). Scramble.nl writes that 30 September 1992 22nd Division merged with 11th Division, and in 1998 39th Fighter Division was merged into 21st Fighter Division. ==List of commanders==