Indonesian Marine Corps


The Indonesian Marine Corps, officially the Marine Corps of the Indonesian Navy previously known as the Commando Corps of the Indonesian Navy, is currently an integral part of the Indonesian Navy and is sized at the military corps level unit as the naval infantry and main amphibious warfare force of Indonesia. The Marine Corps is commanded by a two-star marine general. As of August 2018, it has three divisions, each led by a one-star marine general:
The Marine Corps was initially formed as a special operations force for the Indonesian Navy, then named Korps Komando abbreviated "KKO". The Marine Corps was actively involved in various confrontations and conflicts in Indonesia.
The Marine Corps also maintains a joint Navy-Marine special operations unit, known as Detasemen Jala Mangkara or "DENJAKA" created on 1 December 1984, and draws operators from the KOPASKA and Taifib.

History

The forerunner of the Marine Corps was by the name of Corps Mariniers/ CM, formed on 15 November 1945 in Base IV of ALRI, Tegal. The date was later commemorated as the birthday of the Marine Corps. The CM was originally intended to serve as 'training school' for Navy sailors to be able to fight at ground warfare in case of emergency. Most of its pioneer instructors were graduates of the sailing school. However, at least one of its instructors, Tatang Rusmaja, a former PETA personnel, actually had experience in ground warfare. Due to a lack of naval equipment or ships, the CM was forced to join guerrilla warfare in the jungles and mountains of Central Java. Marines were deployed several times along with the Army to fight the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and during this time, the commander of armed forces assigned the CM, which had combat experience as a ground unit, away from the Navy and transformed into a regiment within Diponegoro Division of Indonesian Army on 17 March 1948.
On 9 October 1948, the Ministry of Defense acknowledged the need for an amphibious commando unit and issued Minister Decree No. A/565/1948 regarding the establishment of a naval infantry Corps within the Navy named Korps Komando/ KKO or Naval Commando Corps. First recruitment batch of this new commando unit arrived in 1949 and almost all of the first recruits were veterans of the CM in Tegal. Later on, the huge number of CM veterans in active duty within this formation would later justify the date of the Marine Corps Birthday, being set and held annually every 15 November in memory of its foundation. In 1950 the armored element was raised, the basis of the 1st Marine Cavalry Regiment, armed at first with equipment left behind by the Dutch.
circa 1960s
The KKO was active in various military operations in Indonesia. One of the largest amphibious military operations would have been Operation Jayawijaya in which thousands of marines were planned to land on Biak in 1963 as a part of the Trikora Campaign to take West Irian from Dutch control. The operation was aborted as a consequence deals preceding the New York Agreement. That campaign saw massive rearmament of the Corps as per the national policies of guided democracy in the later years of the Sukarno presidency, part of the increasing military ties between Indonesia and the Warsaw Pact, wherein the former US-made equipment would be replaced by Russian-produced APCs and IFVs including the PT-76 Amphibious light tanks, BTR-50 APCs and BM-13 MRLs.
At the height of the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, Harun Hj Mohd Said and Usman Ali, two personnel of the KKO were dispatched to Singapore using rubber boats. Their main task was to infiltrate and sabotage the interests of Malaysia and Singapore. In reality, this operation was only able to blow up the MacDonald House and cause civilian and non-military casualties. In that incident, 20 fruit shops around the hotel were heavily damaged, 24 sedan vehicles were destroyed, 30 people died, and 35 people suffered mild and serious injuries. This incident is known as the MacDonald House bombing. Usman Harun was unable to escape from Singapore and was eventually arrested and sentenced to death by the Singaporean government.
On 15 November 1975, Chief of Staff of the Navy issued a decree Skept/1831/XI/1975, which restored the Corps' name to its former name Korps Marinir. Following this, a massive reorganization plan was implemented, followed up with another in 1984.
There was a plan in 1999 to expand the Marine Corps from its strength of 13,000 troops. Based on this plan, every Marine Base would have three combat brigades: the Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery and would be supported by one Combat Support Regiment and one Administration Support Regiment. The expansion would create three Kormar bases: Surabaya for Eastern area command, Jakarta for Central area command, and Rate Island in Lampung for Western area command.
The 1st Marine Brigade and all combat support and service support elements were consolidated in 2001 to form the 1st Marine Forces East. In 2004, the 2nd Marine Forces West was established on the basis of the Marine Independent Brigade, now including the 2nd and 3rd Marine Brigades plus additional combat support and service support units. All these were a result of a massive modernization and expansion program that still continues until today. A 3rd division-sized unit would be raised in 2018 as part of the expansion.
Following a reorganisation introduced in March 2001, the corps consisted of the 1st Marine Corps Group at Surabaya and the Independent Marine Corps Brigade at Jakarta. The 8th Bn was formed in January 2004 and the 9th Bn was due to be formed in April 2004. They were planned to be part of a new group that would include the 7th Bn and support elements. The same Jane's Defence Weekly story said the Marine Corps leadership is reported to have ambitions for the service to expand to at least two full divisions. However, it was reported that the army was opposed, 'perhaps reflecting its leadership's concern over influence.'

History of the beret color and Corps emblem (Gold Anchor and Black Kris)

In 1958, the color purple was used by the Marine Corps in the form of a ribbon as security code to hold landing operations in Padang, West Sumatera during Operation 17 August. The purple beret was the first time used by the 1st Battalion KKO AL in Operation Alugoro in Aceh in August 1961. Furthermore, the beret was equipped with emblems. Initially, the Marine Corps emblem was a red pentagon with the symbol of a golden tricorn hat and two crossed swords in the middle, the beret was pushed to the left where the emblem was located. In 1962, coinciding with the 17th anniversary of KKO-AL, there was a change in the emblem with the introduction of the Keris Samudera sword emblem surrounded by a ribbon with the words "Jalesu Bhumyamca Jayamahe" and there is a writing bearing "Commando Corps" underneath. In between the Corps and Commando writings, there was a printed 1945 number indicating the Marine Corps year of foundation and below the traditional sword, blue wavy lines reflecting the wide Indonesian seas. The emblem was rectangular. In 1968, another change was made to print "Yellow" strips on the outer rings of the rectangular emblem. In 1975, with the issuance of Naval chief of staff order No. / 1831 / XI / 1975 dated 14 November 1975, the name of the Naval Operations Commando Corps changed its name to the Marine Corps in accordance with the name of the Corps Mariniers since 1945, and the waves were thus replaced by a blue lotus, its petals symbolizing amphibious operations and with a silhouette map of Indonesia in black at the center, the emblem now being circular and the gold "Commando Corps" ribbon with the lettering in black changed to that of "Marine Corps". In 1976, the Chief of Staff of the Navy issued Decree No. Skep / 2084 / X / 1976 dated 20 October 1976, on the Change of the Marine Corps Emblem to comply with the earlier decree on the return to the former name of the corps. The change was to add the Anchor as the background of the emblem, the "Marine Corps" ribbon was partially modified and the number "1945" remained at the center as before. The emblem is mounted on a beret provided that the center of the emblem base is located just above the outer end of the left eye's forehead, and thus is pushed to the right. So the official Corps emblem officially began to be used exactly on the 31st Marine Corps Birthday Parade in Jakarta on 15 November 1976 when new colours were awarded to the Corps.
The order of battle of the Indonesian Marine Corps consists of three divisions which are the "Pasmar 1", "Pasmar 2", "Pasmar 3", one brigade and a Special operations unit. Each Marine division oversees the Marine Infantry Brigade, the Marine Combat Support Regiment, the Marine Artillery Regiment and the Marine Cavalry Regiment. The 4th Marine Infantry Brigade covers 4 Marine Infantry Battalions plus other support units. The Marine Corps also maintain a special operations unit which are the Marine's Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion and also the joint Navy-Marine's counter-terrorism unit the "Jala Mengkara Detachment".

Organizational Command Structure

As a component Principal Command of the Indonesian Navy, the Marine Corps is structured into the following in accordance with the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 66/ 2019:

Marine Force

The Marine Force is the Marine Corps Executive Command. Pasmar's main operational missions are to foster the strength and capability of operational preparedness as the Navy's amphibious force in the framework of projection of power to the land by sea, coastal defense operations on strategic islands and other combat operations in accordance with the policy of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Marine Corps Commandant and Indonesian National Armed Forces Commander.
The Pasmar organization typically consist of the following components:
in Sentul, West Java
As of August 2018, there are three marine forces, which are led by one-star marine general, which are as follows:
  1. Marine Force I, covering central Indonesia. It was established based on the Navy Chief of Staff decree No. 08/III/2001 dated 12 March 2001. The base is located in Sidoarjo, East Java.
  2. Marine Force II, covering western Indonesia. It was established based on the Navy Chief of Staff decree 03/II/2004, dated 13 February 2004. The base is located in Jakarta. The 4th Marine Infantry Brigade, based in Lampung province, reports to the Commandant General of the Pasmar 2.
  3. Marine Force III, is the latest Marine Corps Executive Command, created as part of the massive Armed Forces-wide expansion and modernization programs of the national government. Pasmar 3 was established based on the Navy Chief of Staff decree No. Kep/450/V/2018 dated 5 May 2018. The force HQ is located in Sorong, West Papua, and this force serves the eastern provinces of the republic.

    4th Marine Infantry Brigade

The 4th Brigade is a marine infantry brigade without support units, located in Bandar Lampung, Lampung, whose commander reports to the commanding general of the 2nd Marine division. It was raised in 2004 as part of the expansion of the Corps. With 4 battalions rather than the three of other brigades, it is also its largest brigade.
  1. Brigade HQ
  2. 4 Marine Infantry Battalions
  3. Brigade Combat Support Battalion

    Taifib

or Taifib is the Marine Corps' Amphibious reconnaissance Battalion, it has capabilities in Special reconnaissance and also in Airborne. They were officially formed on 18 March 1961 as marine commandos and was first deployed in Irian Jaya during Operation Trikora in April 1962. Starting from November 1971 it was called as Batalyon Intai Amphibi/ Yon Taifib or Amphibious Recon Battalion. To become a Taifib personnel, a candidate is selected from the Marine Corps who has already fulfilled the thorough mental and physical requirements, and at least has served the corps for two years. The certification of amphibious reconnaissance is notoriously difficult that the passing rate of these candidates in each class is only ten percent. Two battalions of this special unit are today in service within the 1st and 2nd Marine Forces, with a third being planned for formation.

Denjaka

or Denjaka is the special operations and counter-terrorism forces of the Indonesian Navy. This is a combined detachment formed from selected personnel of the Navy's Underwater Special Frogmen Unit and the Marine Corps' Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion. According to the directory of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Denjaka is a Marine Corps task force under the Indonesian Navy, with the commandant of the Marine Corps holding responsibilities for general training, while specific training falls under the responsibilities of the chief of Armed Forces Strategic Intelligence Agency. Operational command falls directly under the commander of the National Armed Forces.

Marine Corps Training Command

The Marine Corps Training Command located in Grati, Pasuruan, East Java oversees the following:
  1. Amphibious operations
  2. Shooting Coordination Exercise
  3. Personnel Embarkation and De-embarkation Exercise
  4. Materialistic courses
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.
In the Marine Corps, as part of the Indonesian Navy, the rank structure consists of officers known as in Indonesian as "Perwira", NCOs and enlisted personnel While the Marine Corps wears the blue shoulder boards and blue stripes or blue/gold chevrons as a component service of the Navy its ranks follow those of the Indonesian Army, with the exception of a five-star rank.
The highest rank obtainable in the Marine Corps is Major General, as it is the rank of Commandant of the Marine Corps. However, it is possible to be promoted into higher rank if appointed into a position in Navy or National Armed Forces HQ that requires 3-star rank or higher. Only few people managed to obtain rank of Lieutenant General, one of most notable person is Lt Gen Ali Sadikin. Also there is Lieutenant General R. Hartono, which prominently acts as Vice Chief of Staff of the Navy. And as of present no Marine Corps officer has ever been promoted to General.

Officers rank insignia

NCOs and enlisted

Other patches


Honorary Wearers of the Magenta Beret

As of March 2018, 37 have been given the extraordinary privilege of the Commandant, Indonesian Marine Corps to become Honorary Marines which include the wearing of the Marine Corps combat dress uniform and the magenta beret with the Corps Emblem.

List of Commandants

The Commandant of the Marine Corps is a position that is filled by either a two or three star general officer of the Marine Corps by appointment of the Chief of Staff of the Navy.

Heavy equipment

Light Weaponry