Indonesian Army
The
Indonesian Army (
Indonesian:
Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat,
TNI–AD), the land component of the
Indonesian National Armed Forces, has an estimated strength of 233,000 regular personnel. The force's history began in 1945 when the
Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR) "Civil Security Forces" served as
paramilitary and police.
The Indonesia Army comprises the headquarters and associated units, the military area commands, a strategic reserve command
KOSTRAD, a special forces command
Kopassus,
and other formations and units. The force has grown over the years; in
July 1976 the army was estimated to consist of 180,000 personnel, one
armoured cavalry brigade, part of Kostrad (one tank battalion, plus
support units), 14 infantry brigades (90 infantry, 1 para, 9 artillery,
11 anti-aircraft, and 9 engineer battalions) of which three of the
brigades were in
Kostrad,
two airborne brigades totaling six battalions, also part of Kostrad,
one independent tank battalion, 7 independent armoured cavalry
battalions, and four independent para-commando battalions.
Military Area Commands
The Armed Forces' military districts were created by General
Soedirman, following the model of the
German Wehrkreise system. The system was later ratified in
Surat Perintah Siasat No.1, signed by General Soedirman in November 1948.
From 1946 to 1952, the Army had been organised into numerous
divisions. These were consolidated in 1951, and then eliminated in 1952. From 1952 to 1958-59, the Army was organised into seven
Tentara & Teritoriums.
In August 1958, the Indonesian Army reorganised its territorial
commands. There were to be sixteen Kodams from that point in time, which
retained earlier divisional titles; the
Siliwangi Division, for example, became Kodam VI/Siliwangi.
[5]
A reorganization in 1985 made significant changes in the army chain
of command. The four multiservice Regional Defense Commands (
Kowilhans) and the National Strategic Command (
Kostranas) were eliminated from the defense structure, re-establishing the Military Area Command (
Kodam), or regional command, as the key organization for strategic, tactical, and territorial operations for all services.
[6]
The chain of command flowed directly from the ABRI commander in chief
to the ten Kodam commanders, and then to subordinate army territorial
commands.
The Kodams incorporate
provincial and district commands each with a number of
infantry battalions, sometimes a
cavalry battalion,
artillery, or
engineers.
[7] Some have Raider battalions attached. Currently there are 12 Military Area Commands, and these are:
- Kodam Iskandar Muda, overseeing Aceh province as part of the Aceh special autonomy law. Previously under the Kodam I/Bukit Barisan.
- Kodam I/Bukit Barisan, overseeing northern Sumatra provinces of North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau and Riau Islands.
- In 1997, before the split of Kodam I into Kodam I and Kodam Iskandar
Muda, territorial military district commands included Korem 011 (HQ
Lhokseumawe), Korem 012 (HQ Banda Aceh), Korem 022 (HQ Pematang
Siantar), Korem 023 (HQ Sibolga), Korem 031 (HQ Pekanbaru), and Korem
032 (HQ Padang).[8]
- Kodam II/Sriwijaya, overseeing southern provinces on Sumatra island of Jambi, Bengkulu, Bangka Belitung, South Sumatra and Lampung.
- Korems in 1997 included Korem 041 (HQ Palembang), Korem 042 (HQ Jambi), Korem 043 (HQ Lampung), and Korem 044 (HQ Serong).[8]
- Kodam Jaya, overseeing Jakarta
as the capital city of Indonesia. Kodam Jaya also oversees three
regions outside Jakarta of Bekasi and Depok which actually in West Java
province and Tangerang which is in Banten province.
- Kodam III/Siliwangi, overseeing West Java and Banten provinces.
- Kodam IV/Diponegoro, overseeing Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.
- Kodam V/Brawijaya, overseeing East Java province.
- Kodam VI/Tanjungpura, overseeing all provinces on Kalimantan island (Borneo) of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.
- Kodam VII/Wirabuana, overseeing all provinces on Sulawesi island of Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and West Sulawesi.
- Kodam IX/Udayana, overseeing provinces of Bali, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. The former Indonesian province of East Timor was also under the jurisdiction of Kodam IX/Udayana.
- Kodam XVI/Pattimura, overseeing Maluku and North Maluku provinces.
- Kodam XVII/Cendrawasih, overseeing West Papua and Papua provinces.[9]
- Previously Irian Jaya and the Maluku islands were under Kodam VIII/Trikora.[10] Kodam VIII/Trikora had in 1997 six infantry battalions plus engineer detachments.[8]
The district commands in 1997 included Korem 171 (HQ Manokwari), Korem
172 (HQ Abepura), Korem 173 (HQ Biak) and Korem 174 (HQ Ambon). The South Pacific Yearbook
reported three infantry battalions which were based at Manokwari,
Jayapura, and Sorong, as well as mentioning a naval base at Biak.
- On June 8, 2012, the Indonesian Police told AFP
that one person was killed and 17 wounded when Indonesian soldiers
opened fire on civilians after a deadly dispute sparked by a road
accident in Papua province. The shootings took place late on June 7,
2012, after residents, angry that two soldiers on a motorcycle hit and
injured a child, stabbed one of the troops to death and seriously
injured the other in Wamena:
"Following the road accident soldiers.. arrived in two trucks and took
revenge by firing gunshots toward local residents and setting a number
of houses on fire," national police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said.
"The trouble then spread to the city centre where a number of shops and
houses were also damaged by gunshots," he told AFP.[11]
Operational Commands
Indonesian Army HQ in Jakarta. The statue is of
Sudirman
- Special Forces Command (Kopassus),
est 5,530 divided is composed of five groups, Grup 1/Parakomando (Para
Commando), Grup 2/Parakomando (Para Commando), Pusat Pendidikan Pasukan
Khusus (Training), Grup 3/Sandhi Yudha (Combat Intelligence), SAT 81/Penanggulangan Teror (Counter-terrorism); plus the Presidential Guard (Paspampres) and headquarters.[12]
Each group is headed by a Colonel and all groups are para-commando
qualified. Of note is the unusual nature of Group IV, possibly also
called "Sandhy Yudha,"
which consists of select members from Groups I, II, and III. The duties
of these specially trained personnel include attacking behind enemy
lines (Infiltration tactics). Group IV also, reportedly[who?], works with the Joint Intelligence Unit on interrogations, and carries out clandestine operations around the country.
- Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), is the Indonesian Army's Strategic Reserve Command. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has around 40,000 troops.[13]
It also supervises operational readiness among all commands and
conducts defense and security operations at the strategic level in
accordance with policies of the TNI commander.
- Infantry Division 1 Kostrad, with 13th Infantry Brigade and the 17th Airborne Brigade, plus Field Artillery Regiment 2
- 2nd Division, with 6th and 9th Infantry, and the 18th Airborne Brigades, plus a field artillery regiment
- 3rd Airborne Infantry Brigade, Ujung Pandang (ex-Kopassus 3rd Group)[14]
- KOSTRAD also commands several combat service support units such as combat engineers.
- Army Aviation Command (id:Pusat Penerbangan Angkatan Darat)
The army had its own small air arm that performs attack, liaison and
transport duties. It operates 100 aircraft in three helicopter and
aircraft squadrons composed mostly of light aircraft and small
transports, such as the IPTN produced CN-235.
- Squadron 11 Heli Serbu (light assault) (Semarang, Jawa Tengah)
- Squadron 21 Sena (support) (Pondok Cabe, Jakarta)
- Squadron 31 Heli Serbu (heavy assault squadron)(Semarang, Jawa Tengah)
