Indonesian Army


The Indonesian Army is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat "Civil Security Forces" first emerged as a paramilitary and police corps.
Since the nation's independence movement, the Indonesian Army has been involved in multifaceted operations ranging from the incorporation of Western New Guinea, the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, to the annexation of East Timor, as well as internal counter-insurgency operations in Aceh, Maluku, and Papua. The army's operations have not been without controversy; it has been periodically associated with human rights violations, particularly in West Papua, East Timor and Aceh.
The Indonesia Army is composed of a headquarters, 15 military region commands, a strategic reserve command KOSTRAD, a special forces command Kopassus, and various adjunct units. It is headed by the Chief of Staff of the Army.

History

Formation

In the week following the Japanese surrender of 1945, the Giyugun and Heiho groups were disbanded by the Japanese. Most PETA and Heiho members did not yet know about the declaration of independence. Command structures and membership vital for a national army were consequently dismantled. Thus, rather than being formed from a trained, armed, and organised army, the Republican armed forces began to grow in September from usually younger, less trained groups built around charismatic leaders. Creating a rational military structure that was obedient to central authority from such disorganisation, was one of the major problems of the revolution, a problem that remains through to contemporary times. In the self-created Indonesian army, Japanese-trained Indonesian officers prevailed over those trained by the Dutch. A thirty-year-old former school teacher, Sudirman, was elected 'commander-in-chief' at the first meeting of Division Commanders in Yogyakarta on 12 November 1945.
Aware of the limitations of the military in the face of the Dutch aggression, the people and government of Indonesia had no choice but to fight foreign threats to the young nation's independence. Thus, in 1947, the People's War Doctrine in which all the power of the national armed forces and the community and resources were deployed to confront the Dutch aggression, was officially implemented within the army and the wider armed forces as the national military strategy. Thus, the integrity and existence of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia has been able to be maintained by military force with the people. In accordance with the decision of the Round Table Conference, at the end of 1949 the United States of Indonesia came into being. Correspondingly, the TNI's ground forces thus formed part of the Angkatan Perang Republik Indonesia Serikat . It would be the merger of the TNI and the former KNIL and all military personnel of the two forces, plus the independent paramilitary groups which fought the war on the side of the independence movement.

Action against rebellions

The period is also called the period of liberal democracy is characterized by various rebellions in the country. In 1950 most of the former members of the Colonial Army launched an uprising in Bandung which is known as the Legion of Ratu Adil / APRA uprising and was led by former KNIL officer Raymond Westerling. The army also needed to confront the uprising in Makassar led by Andi Azis and the Republic of South Maluku in Maluku. Meanwhile, DaruI Islam in West Java widened its influence to South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and Aceh. In 1958 the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia / People's Struggle started a rebellion in large parts of Sumatra and North Sulawesi endangering the national integrity. As part of the National Armed Forces the Army helped defeat all these uprisings, increasing its prestige in the eyes of the government and the people. Future Chief of Staff of the Army Ahmad Yani was instrumental in one of these first victories against rebels in Central Java.
On 17 November 1952, General Nasution was suspended as army chief of staff following army indiscipline over command and support that threatens the government. From the 1950s, the military articulated the doctrines of dwifungsi and hankamrata, the military roles in the country's socio-political development as well as security; and a requirement that the resources of the people be at the call of the armed forces and police if the State warrants it. On 5 July 1959, Sukarno, with armed forces support and the advice of Nasution, issued a decree dissolving the Constituent Assembly and reintroducing the Constitution of 1945 with strong presidential powers. By 1963, he also assumed the additional role of Prime Minister, which completed the structure of 'Guided Democracy', and was named "President for Life", also with army assistance, the year after.
At the same time, the Indonesian government started sending their troops on UN peacekeeping missions. The first batch of soldiers were sent to Sinai, Egypt and were known as Garuda Contingent 1. Garuda Contingent I began its first deployment January 8, 1957 to Egypt. Garuda Contingent I consisted of the combined personnel of the 15th Army Infantry Regiment Territorial Command IV / Diponegoro, as well as one company of the 18th Infantry Regiment TC V / Brawijaya in Malang. This contingent was led by Lt. Col. of Infantry Hartoyo which was later replaced by Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry Suadi Suromihardjo, while his deputy was Major of Infantry Soediono Suryantoro. The contingent departed on January 8, 1957 on board the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II transport aircraft of the United States Air Force for Beirut, the Lebanese capital. From Beirut the contingent was divided by two, the majority heading to Abu Suweir and partly to Al Sandhira. Furthermore, the El Sandhira troops moved into Gaza, the border area of Egypt and Israel, while the command is in Rafah. This contingent returned to Indonesia on September 29, 1957. Garuda Contingent I had a total number of 559 army personnel of all ranks.

1960 onwards

The army was heavily involved in the Indonesian killings of 1965–1966. The killings were an anti-communist purge following a failed coup of the 30 September Movement. The most widely accepted estimates are that more than 500,000 people were killed. The purge was a pivotal event in the transition to the "New Order"; the Indonesian Communist Party was eliminated as a political force. The failed coup released pent-up communal hatreds which were fanned by the Indonesian Army, which quickly blamed the PKI. Communists were purged from political, social, and military life, and the PKI itself was banned. The massacres began in October 1965, in the weeks following the coup attempt, and reached their peak over the remainder of the year before subsiding in the early months of 1966. They started in the capital, Jakarta, and spread to Central and East Java and, later, Bali. Thousands of local vigilantes and army units killed actual and alleged PKI members. Although killings occurred across Indonesia, the worst were in the PKI strongholds of Central Java, East Java, Bali, and northern Sumatra. It is possible that over one million people were imprisoned at one time or another.
Sukarno's balancing act of "Nasakom" had been unravelled. His most significant pillar of support, the PKI, had been effectively eliminated by the other two pillars—the army and political Islam; and the army was on the way to unchallenged power. In March 1968, Suharto was formally elected president.
The killings are skipped over in most Indonesian history books and have received little introspection by Indonesians and comparatively little international attention. Satisfactory explanations for the scale and frenzy of the violence have challenged scholars from all ideological perspectives. The possibility of a return to similar upheavals is cited as a factor in the "New Order" administration's political conservatism and tight control of the political system. Vigilance against a perceived communist threat remained a hallmark of Suharto's thirty-year presidency. The CIA described the massacre as "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century, along with the Soviet purges of the 1930s, the Nazi mass murders during the Second World War, and the Maoist bloodbath of the early 1950s."
Later army operations have not been without controversy; it has been periodically associated with human rights violations, particularly in West Papua, East Timor and Aceh. Involvement in UN Peacekeeping operations continued, but in 2010, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was strongly criticized after two soldiers from Indonesia were filmed fleeing a clash on the Israeli-Lebanon border in a taxi.
The size of the Army has expanded over the years; in July 1976 the Army was estimated to consist of solely 180,000 personnel, one armoured cavalry brigade, part of Kostrad, 14 infantry brigades of which three of the brigades were in Kostrad, two airborne brigades totalling six battalions, also part of Kostrad, one independent tank battalion, 7 independent armoured cavalry battalions, and four independent para-commando battalions.

Organisation

The Indonesian Army is currently organized into 15 military area commands which are spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago. They are placed under the jurisdiction of the army headquarter. Three are based in Sumatra, four are based in Java, two are based in Kalimantan, one based in Lesser Sunda Islands, two based in Sulawesi, one based in Maluku and two based in Papua. The Komando Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat and Komando Pasukan Khusus are independent formations and directly subordinate to the Chief of Staff. The army headquarters is under coordination with the armed force Headquarters. The highest-ranking officer within the army is the Chief of Staff of the Army which has the rank of a four-star General and is responsible to the Commander of the Armed Forces.
The Indonesian Army is structured into the following in accordance with the provisions of presidential decree No. 66/ 2019:

Leadership Element

  1. Inspector General of the Army, position held by three-star general.
  2. Chief of Staff Advisor, position held by two-star or one-star general.
  3. Army Planning and Budgeting Advisor
  4. Army Intelligence Advisor
  5. Army Operational Advisor
  6. Army Training Advisor
  7. Army Human Resources Advisor
  8. Army Logistics Advisor
  9. Army Territorial Advisor

    Service Element

The agencies with suffix Pusat, Akademi, and Sekolah are headed by two-star general, while agencies with suffix Dinas and Direktorat are headed by a one-star general. There are exception for Territorial Center, Army Military Police Center and Army Hospital as they are all headed by three-star general.
  1. Army Territorial Forces Center , In charge of fostering and conducting Territorial defense and development functions in order to support the basic missions entrusted to the Army.
  2. Army Military Police Center
  3. Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital
  4. Army Aviation Center
  5. Army Medical Center, in charge of maintaining the health of army service personnel.
  6. Center of the Army Corps of Engineers
  7. Army Communications Corps Center
  8. Army Ordnance Center
  9. Army Logistics and Transportation Center
  10. Indonesian Military Academy
  11. Army Command and Staff School
  12. Army Officer Candidate School
  13. Army Intelligence Center, provides intelligence gathering services to the Army.
  14. Army Signal and Cyber Operations Center
  15. Directorate of the Army Adjudant General
  16. Directorate of the Army Topography Service
  17. Directorate of the Army Justice Service
  18. Directorate of the Army Finance Corps
  19. Army Physical Fitness and Sports Department, In charge of physical fitness functions including the formation, upgrading and maintenance towards personnel and units within the Army organization.
  20. Department of the Army Chaplaincy. This agency is in charge of organizing mental guidance for soldiers and civil servants and their families through mentality of spiritual and ideological mentoring in order to support the main task of the Army.
  21. Department of the Army Psychology Service, In charge of psychological affairs towards Army personnel and servicemen in order to support Army operational conducts. This agency is also involved in selection of candidates, career development and personality of member personnel, psychological feasibility evaluation of members, development of research related to psychology and army in the field of social, war strategy, and planning.
  22. Department of the Army Research and Development , Responsible for planning and developing equipment and facilities for the army and led by a brigadier general.
  23. Department of the Army History Service - Responsible for research studies and on activities on promoting and preserving the history and heritage of the Army.
  24. Department of the Army Information and Data Processing
  25. Department of the Army Public Relations, In charge of delivering information and explanation of activities and incidents associated with the Army to the public in order to support the operational duties of the Army.
  26. Department of the Army Assurance Service

    Principal Commands under the Army Headquarters

Army Strategic Command

Kostrad is the Indonesian Army's Strategic operational Command. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has around 40,000 troops. It also supervises operational readiness among all commands and conducts defence and security operations at the strategic level in accordance with policies of the TNI commander. Green berets are worn by its personnel. Kostrad is the main basic warfare combat unit of the Indonesian Army, while Kopassus is the elite-special forces of the Indonesian Army, Kostrad still maintains as the first-line combat unit of the TNI below the kopassus. Kostrad is not only categorized as "reserve units", its also used as a main combat but is deployed for certain circumstances and is also capable for semi-special ops because mainly airborne infantry units are part of this corps. Kostrad contains Infantry units, Artillery, Cavalry, and other military combat units.

Army Doctrine, Education and Training Development Command

The Army Doctrine, Education and Training Development Command is mandated to provide training to all officers, warrant officers, NCOs and enlisted personnel of the Army.
The Armed Forces' Military districts known as "KODAM"s and the operational organization of these were established by General Soedirman, following the model of the German Wehrkreise system. The system was later codified in Surat Perintah Siasat No.1, signed into doctrine by General Soedirman in November 1948.
The Army's structure underwent various reorganisations throughout its early years. From 1946 to 1952 the Army was organized into a number of set combined arms divisions. These were further consolidated in 1951, and then dispersed in 1952. From 1952 to 1958-59, the Army was organised into seven Territorial Armies composed of regiments and independent formations in the battalion level and below. In August 1958, the Indonesian Army reconsolidated its territorial organization. There were then established sixteen regional commands, which retained earlier divisional titles; the Siliwangi Division, for example, became Kodam VI/Siliwangi. The RCs, then as in today, were subdivided administratively into Areas, Districts and District Sectors, and operationally composed of a number of speciality battalions and in some regional commands, an infantry brigade.
A reorganisation in 1985 made significant changes in the army chain of command. The four multiservice Regional Defence Commands and the National Strategic Forces Command were eliminated from the defence structure, re-establishing the Regional Military Command as the key organisation for strategic, tactical, and territorial operations for all services. The chain of command flowed directly from the ABRI commander in chief via the Chief of Staff of the Army to the ten territorial commands' commanders, and then to subordinate army territorial commands.
The territorial commands incorporate provincial and district commands each with a number of infantry battalions, sometimes a cavalry battalion, artillery, or engineers, and there are an increasing number of infantry brigades being activated. Some have Raider battalions attached. Currently there are 15 Military district commands in Indonesia:
Special Forces Command, est 5,530 divided is composed of five groups, Grup 1/Parakomando, Grup 2/Parakomando, Special Force Training Centre, Grup 3/Sandhi Yudha, SAT 81/Penanggulangan Teror ; plus personnel of the Presidential Guard Brigade and headquarters. Each group is headed by a Colonel and all groups are para-commando qualified. Kopassus is known for its roles in high-risk operations such as the Woyla hijacking and the Mapenduma hostage crisis. However, Kopassus is also known for its alleged human right abuses in East Timor and Papua. Personnel of the unit are distinguished by their red berets, similar to most paratrooper and special forces units in the world.

Army Branches/Corps

Combat elements

There are today 5 types of Infantry battalions in the Indonesian Army, which are:
  1. Para-Raider Infantry Battalion : are Airborne infantry battalions part of Kostrad which are also capable in Air assault and Raid operations.
  2. Mechanized-Raider Infantry Battalion : are Raider infantry battalions which are Mechanized that are special operations-capable which also can carry out urban warfare and ground mechanized infantry operations.
  3. Raider Infantry Battalion : are infantry battalions which are basically trained for Raid warfare and Air assault operations.
  4. Mechanized Infantry Battalion : are mobilized infantry battalions, equipped with APCs and IFVs.
  5. Infantry Battalion : are light Infantry battalions.
All infantrymen of the Indonesian National Armed Forces have capabilities in Jungle warfare, including infantrymen from the Indonesian Marine Corps and Paskhas corps.

Combat support element">combat support">Combat support element

Rank Structure

In the army, as well as in other armed forces branches in Indonesia, the rank consists of officer known as in Indonesian: "Perwira", NCO: "Bintara" and enlisted: "Tamtama".
The proper title to address of rank on official document are as follows, all high-ranking officers use their rank followed by "", while other officers use their rank followed by respective branch/corps abbreviation. For example, an Army colonel with Infantry branch use the title "Kolonel INF", while an Army Major General from Infantry branch use the title "Mayor Jendral ". Enlisted personnel are not required to put their respective branch/corps specialty.
Note: Indonesia is not a member of NATO, so there is not an official equivalence between the Indonesian military ranks and those defined by NATO. The displayed parallel is approximate and for illustration purposes only.

Officers

Enlisted

Equipment and Weaponry

Photo gallery