On 5 December 1991, by the decision of the Government of the Armenian SSR, the State Defense Committee under the Council of Ministers was created. The first head of this department was Vazgen Sargsyan. On 28 January 1992, the Government of Armenia adopted a resolution "On the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia", which was actually a renaming of the previously created State Defense Committee. Sargsyan was appointed the first Minister of Defense of Armenia. The police patrol and special operations regiment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, the civil defense regiment of the Civil Defense Headquarters of the Republic of Armenia and the republican military commissariat were transferred to the subordination of the newly formed ministry. The next step was the creation of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Defense, which included the Main Headquarters and management. In May 1992, the Ministry of Defense carried out the first conscription of military servicemen on the territory of the republic. The formation of the military department coincided with the beginning of large-scale Karabakh war, in which the Armed Forces of Armenia actively participated. The Ministry of Defense was directly involved in the command of the Armenian forces in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and the formations of the Artsakh Defense Army. At the end of hostilities in early 1994, the military department of Armenia began the process of military reformation.
The Military Police fall under the command of the Ministry of Defence, being considered to be a division that is separate from the central apparatus. The Military Police was established in May 1992 and had no special status until 2007, when a law to define the Military Police status was adopted. Its status is defined in the RA Law on Military Police, which says that the Military Police is responsible for the investigation of military crimes in the armed forces that were committed on the territory of military units and the deterrence of crimes being planned or committed by military servicemen. The Military Police Bylaws were approved by the Government of Armenia on 25 December 2008. The military police is in control of the peacekeeping brigade.
Separate Regiment of Protection
The Separate Regiment of Protection is a security unit of the armed forces under the ministry. The Honour Guard Company falls under its command. it descends from the Yerevan Special Regiment, founded on 20 September 1990 with 26 platoons from Yerevan. In 2008, the reigment, as this point known as the Capital Regiment, handed over its territory to the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade, moving to a different location. It it has taken part in the 2010, 2015 and 2020 Moscow Victory Day Parades on Red Square. It is currently led by led by Colonel Ashot Hakobyan a graduate of the Moscow Higher Military Command School. The Armenian contingent at the 2010 parade was led by the grandson of Soviet Armenian Marshal Sergei Khudyakov, Lieutenant Colonel Vardan Khanferyants. The contingent's color guard held the flag of the 89th Rifle Division in the latter two parades.
Chaplaincy Program
The Army Chaplaincy Program of the Armenian Apostolic Church is made up of more than 50 clergymen who currently serve as military chaplains to the Armed Forces. It is jointly funded and sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the church.
General Staff
According to the Military Doctrine of the Republic of Armenia, the functions of the General Staff of the Armed Forces include:
Holistic operational command and control of troops, including combat units and rear support unit
Development of plans for the combat use of the Armed Forces
Planning and coordination of peacetime activities of all types of forces: the Border Troops, the former Internal Troops and other armed units.
The Ministry of Defense is the executive body which implements the policies of the Armenian Government in the defense sector. It oversees the budget of the armed forces and ensures the safety of troops
