HISTORY MUSEUM OF ARMENIA

In the origins of the army: Part III

HMA > In the origins of the army: Part III

In the origins of the army: Part III

In the origins of the army: Part III

THE ARMED FORCES OF ARMENIA DURING THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

After the collapse of the USSR and the independence of the Republic of Armenia, the issue of maintaining the security and independence of the national state, the guarantee of which was a combat-ready army, was important. The process of creating the Armenian Army can be divided into three stages:

  1. The first phase covers February 1988 to May 1992.
  2. The second phase includes the period from June 1992 to May 1994, when ensuring the military security of the population of the independent Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh became an urgent issue.
  3. The third phase covers the period from June 1994 onwards.

In 1992-1993, a mobile and disciplined army was created by combining volunteer detachments and conscripts drafted into the army. On January 28, 1992, the government adopted the historic decision “On the RA Ministry of Defence,” which announced the beginning of the creation of the national army. The first minister of defence was Vazgen Sargsyan.

The Army of the Third Republic of Armenia, Special Regiment

EXHIBITION GALLERY

  • Vazgen Sargsyan (1959-1999) RA First Minister of Defence
  • From left to right: K․ Ivanyan, G․ Dalibaltayan, V․ Sargsyan, discussing the military plan
  • Gurgen Dalibaltayan (1926-2015) USSR and RA military figure, Colonel General (1996), posthumous National Hero of Armenia (2021) He personally led the military operations for the liberation of Khojalou, the opening of the Humanitarian Corridor in Shushi, Lachin, and the neutralization of firing points in Kelbajar. Awarded 33 medals.
  • Minister of Defence V. Sargsyan confers the rank of Colonel General to G. Dalibaltayan, 1996
  • G. Dalibaltayan during military training
  • Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan (1939-2021) Armenian military figure, Major General of the Armed Forces of Armenia, National Hero of Armenia, Hero of Artsakh. He was appointed commander of the NK Self-Defence Forces (SDF). In 1991-1992, Ter-Tadevosyan led the liberation and self-defence battles of Togh, Sarishen, Martakert, Khojalou, Hadrut and other settlements and regions of Nagorno Karabakh. It was then that he was called “Komandos.” In 1992, under his leadership, the operation for the liberation of Shushi was developed, which was codenamed “Wedding in the Mountains” and was carried out on May 8-9, 1992 at a high strategic and tactical level. In 1992-2001, he served in the RA Ministry of Defence. In 1992-1993, he was the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, and then the Head of the Non-Uniform Training Department. In 1993-1995, he headed the Department of Personnel Management of the RA Ministry of Defence. In 1996, he was the assistant to the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, and since 2001, the president of the RA Defence Sports-Technical Organisation.
  • Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan, National Hero, Major General, hands over his sword to the History Museum, October 25, 2020.
  • Monte Melkonyan (1957-1993) He was in Armenia in 1991. In the conditions of the Artsakh War, he founded the “Patriots” detachment. He participated in the self-defence and liberation battles of the Ijevan, Chambarak regions of the RA, the Shahumyan, Martakert, Martuni regions of the NKR. Due to showing high professional skills from a military point of view, in 1992 he assumed the duty of the chief of staff of the Martuni defence region. In March-April 1993, under his leadership, Karvachar was also liberated. He was killed on June 12, 1993 in Marzilu village of the Aghdam region.
  • Ashot Ghulyan (1959-1992) Battle name: Bekor (Shard) In 1991, when the formation of the first military units of the Artsakh regular army began, he was offered to head the first company, the core of which was his own squad. He participated in many of the battles fought during the Artsakh War: Askeran, Hadrut, Shahumyan, Krkzhan, Verin Shen, Khojalou, Karintak, Shushi, Lachin, Martakert, Kusapat, Drmbon, etc. Many settlements were liberated under his command. During the Shushi military operation in 1992, the first company led by Bekor was the first to enter the city. On August 24, 1992, the battle for the liberation of Drmbon village in the Martakert region was the last for Bekor.
  • Leonid Azgaldyan (1942-1992) From February 1990, he led the command of the “Army of Independence,” which was a volunteer military-political unit and in terms of coordinating the efforts of the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora, it was a new quality in the modern struggle for the survival of the Armenian people. Leonid Azgaldyan led the organisation “Army of Independence” as commander-in-chief until the end of his life. He organised the self-defence of a number of regions and especially Vardenis. He operated in the Getashen, Shahumyan, and then Martakert regions.
  • Shahen Meghryan (1952-1993) Commander of the Special Forces Regiment At the beginning of the Artsakh War, Meghryan created volunteer combat squads and organised the self-defence of the Shahumyan region. In 1991, under the leadership of Meghryan, the villages of Erkej, Buzlukh and Manashid, captured during the operation “Ring,” were liberated. This military operation was the first during the Artsakh War, when volunteer freedom fighters liberated the occupied territories with their own forces. On June 13, 1992, after the deportation of the population of the Shahumyan region and Getashen sub-region, Meghryan organised a partisan detachment in the village of Haterk and participated in the liberation battles of Gulistan and the villages of the Martakert region (Haterk, Akanaberd, Madaghis, Tonashen, Dastagir) in the north of the NKR, and the Sarsang hydro-junction military action, defeating the Geranbo regiment of the Azerbaijani army. On March 11, 1993, a special purpose regiment was formed under the command of Shahen Meghryan based on the forces and means of the “Yeghnikner” (Deers) detachment. Killed in a helicopter crash.
  • Vahagn Asatryan (1977-2020) Armenian military figure, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Armenia, National Hero of Armenia
  • Vazgen Sargsyan (1959-1999) Military and political figure, the first Minister of Defence of RA (1991-1992, then 1995-1999). RA Prime Minister from June 11 to October 27, 1999. He founded Yerkhapah Volunteer Union. He was given the honorific title “Sparapet.” He made a great contribution to the independence, security and establishment of the Armenian army. V. Sargsyan was awarded the highest titles of “National Hero of Armenia” and “Hero of Artsakh.”
  • The “Keri” Detachment of the “Tigranes the Great” Militia Regiment, October 3, 2020.
  • Medal of “National Hero of Armenia” “National Hero of Armenia” is the highest rank of RA. The title of “National Hero of Armenia” is awarded for exceptional services of nationwide significance rendered to the Republic of Armenia in the fields of defence of the country, strengthening of the legal system, as well as in the creation of significant national values.
  • A cross made of bullets, a gift to General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan from the fighters of the “Komandos” detachment. Similar crosses were worn by the fighters of the detachment so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy alive.
  • RA Medal of “Courage” Medal for “Combat Service” Medal “For Services to the Motherland,” I degree Medal “For Services to the Motherland,” II degree Order of the “Combat Cross,” I degree Order of the “Combat Cross,” II degree Order of “Saint Vardan Zoravar” Yerkrapah (Defenders of the Land) Volunteer Union Medal of “Sparapet Vazgen Sargsyan” Commemorative Medal of “Yerkrapah (Defenders of the Land) of Armenia” Commemorative Medal of the “5th Volunteer Motorized Rifle Brigade”