The "Higher Military Combined Arms Command College" was founded on June 24, 1994. The Izmirlian Foundation had a major role in the process of establishing the college, financing the construction of two barracks and the heating and power system from 1996-1998. A presidential decree issued by Robert Kocharyan on 28 December 1999, renamed the college to the Military Institute named after Vazgen Sargsyan, the first Armenian Defense Minister and the Prime Minister of Armenia who was killed in the Armenian parliament shooting two months prior. On 12 February 2000, the institute was awarded the Battle Flag as a symbol of military honor. On 27 January 2006, a center for raising the qualification of officers was established at the Military Institute. On 28 April 2012, by the decision of the Government, the Military Institute was reorganized into a military university. In 2013, the university admitted its first group of female cadets. In 2019, the Minister of Education and Science awarded the university with a 4-year institutional accreditation certificate.