Instead, the Russian Defense Ministry took direct command of the Soviet units there, forcing the Tajik government to raise an army from scratch.

[3] It was originally established by the Ministry of Defense as the Armed Forces Department, and its first units were formed early in the year from skilled teams loyal to the Popular Front of Tajikistan.

[4] By the mid 1990s, the ground forces numbered to around 3,000, with the majority of the officer corps being Russian, mostly veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

American trainers have worked on setting up a non-commissioned officer corps within the army to train enlisted personnel.

On 13 August 1997, by the order of the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant Colonel Sherali Mirzo was appointed its commander.