The 104th brigade is well known in the media due to its multi-year ordeal in defending Deir ez-Zor. Deployed to the area in late 2012, according to some sources (other sources state that the brigade was not deployed to Deir ez-Zor before early 2014), the brigade, along with other SAA elements, defended pro-government-held territory in Deir ez-Zor. The brigade has been largely under siege since January 2015 (the Syrian Arab Air Force in cooperation with the Russian Aerospace forces maintain an air bridge). In early 2018 reports emerged that the unit was transferred back to Damascus.