On December 1965, he was appointed as commander of the Volga Military District and on April 1968, he was appointed as first Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Ogarkov was the candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee from 1966 to 1971 and member of the CPSU Central Committee from 1971 to 1991. From March 1974 to January 1977, Ogarkov was the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Chairman of the State Technical Commission of the USSR and member of the Collegium of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR.