ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet or AARM was first established in 1991 under the recommendation of the Malaysia Chief of Army at that time.

First AARM was held in 1991 in Terendak Camp, the state of Malacca, Malaysia with six member countries participating, namely: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. It was agreed that each member country will rotate hosting this event on a yearly basis.

The aim of AARM is to develop and strengthen the relationship between the military personnel at all levels of the ASEAN armies from senior military leaders to the soldiers of the lower ranks. In every meet, there is an opening ceremony that is attended by the Deputy Chiefs of Armies and the closing ceremony attended by the Chiefs of Armies, who in turn will also participate in the ASEAN Chiefs of Armies Multilateral Meeting or ACAMM . The competing teams consist of members from the rank of private soldiers up to the rank of colonels.

Since the First AARM, member countries had taken their turn to host the following AARM; Indonesia in 1992, Brunei in 1993, Thailand in 1994, Philippines in 1995 and Singapore in 1996. 1996 AARM in Singapore completes the first 6 member round of AARM.

AARM 1997 in Malaysia marks the start of the second round of tournaments and the introduction of standardized regulations, which AARM continues to adhere to until today with slight modifications over the years to make them more complete and fair.

AARM 1999 in Brunei was first time all ten ASEAN nations, from the original six member countries were invited to meet. The four new members were Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. However, only Laos participated in only the rifle and pistol Matches.

AARM 2000 in Thailand marked another change in the AARM format. It was decided that since all the ASEAN Armies Chiefs are together for the AARM closing ceremony, all the ASEAN Chiefs of Armies are invited to participate in a multilateral meeting to discuss regional military and security issues. It is the first forum of its kind, it is known as the ASEAN Chiefs of Armies Multilateral Meeting or ACAMM.