How do states maintain regional order? Can military-to-military engagement maintain regional order? How useful are joint military exercises (JMEs) for regional order maintenance? The paper develops a set of hypotheses on how the network quality of JMEs shape regional order in Asia. The network quality of JMEs refers to their institutionalization as measured by: (1) their frequency and durability, (2) the resources and assets devoted, (3) the scenarios and types of exercises, and (4) their membership overlaps. The institutionalization of some types of exercises, not others, seem to be more beneficial for bilateral and multilateral confidence building. The paper also presents a very preliminary set of patterns from an original database of regional JMEs as part of the Asian Conceptions and Practices of International Order (ACPIO) project based at the Centre on Asia and Globalisation (CAG), LKYSPP. The data covers approximately 4,000 JMEs involving 15 Asian countries from 1970 to 2021. The paper has broader theoretical, empirical, and policy implications for the study of defense diplomacy and regional orders.