[6] On 2 November 1990, prior to the formation of the state of Moldova, the Supreme Soviet of the Moldovan SSR ordered creation of the Republican Guard (Romanian: Garda Republicană) as a militarized government agency.

A transition to a professional force of 12,000 to 15,000 volunteers was planned at first, but when fighting erupted in 1991 between supporters of the central government in Chișinău and supporters of separatist regions (Transnistria conflict), males between eighteen and forty years of age were mobilized, and the size of Moldova's military was temporarily expanded to meet the demands of the Transnistria War.

[10] The Library of Congress Country Studies wrote that its armaments consisted of fifty-six ballistic missile defenses; seventy-seven armored personnel carriers and sixty-seven "look-alikes."

("Look-alikes" is a Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty term denoting modifications of armored personnel carriers for specialised missions such as anti-tank missile carriage, reconnaissance, or engineer duties).

In 2022, during the Russian war in Ukraine, various Western countries pledged to support Moldova's territorial integrity and provide energy and military aid.

[15] During a visit to Chișinau, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said that Germany is prepared to offer purchases of drones and military training to Moldova.

Later that month, Moldovan Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii expressed that 90 percent of Moldova's military equipment dates back to the Soviet era and is in need of urgent replacement.

[16]In 1994 the Moldovan Air Force consisted of 1,300 men organized into one fighter regiment, one helicopter squadron, and one missile brigade.

[19] As of 2006[update] all the MiG-29 fighters had either been sold or scrapped, and the Moldovan Air Force had only 2 An-2 Colts, 1 An-26 Curl, 2 An-72 Coalers, 8 Mi-8 Hips, and 12 SA-3 'Goa' SAMs in service, manned by 1,040 personnel.

The Moldovan Carabinieri is designed to ensure, together with the General Police Inspectorate or independently, public order and the protection of rights and freedoms of citizens.

On 1 July 2012, Prime Minister Vlad Filat ordered its shift from the armed forces to the internal affairs ministry.

As part of NATO's Defence and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative since 2014, the Moldovan Armed Forces are receiving modest amounts of equipment from the alliance.

[27] In 2018, the National Army Day silver jubilee celebrations were held at the base of the 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade "Moldova" in Bălți.

In 1990, the Republican Council of Soldiers-Internationalists was created, it was headed by the military commissar of the then Oktyabrsky District of Chișinău, Colonel Vitaly Zavgorodniy, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.