Ahmad Yani military branch Indonesian Army
Early life
Ahmad Yani was born in Jenar, Purworejo, Dutch East Indies on 19 June 1922 to the Wongsoredjo family, a family that worked at a sugar factory run by a Dutch owner. In 1927, Yani moved with his family to Batavia, where his father now worked for a Dutch General. At Batavia, Yani worked his way through primary and secondary education. In 1940, Yani left high school to undergo compulsory military service in the colonial government's Army of the Dutch East Indies, where he initially trained as a navy seaman. He studied military topography in Malang, East Java, but this education was interrupted by the Japanese invasion in 1942, at which time Yani and his family moved back to Central Java.
In 1943, he joined the Japanese-sponsored PETA army, and underwent further training in Magelang as an artillery officer and then as a platoon commander; he moved to Bogor, West Java for the latter training, after which he returned to Magelang as an instructor.
armed forces military division armed service military unit military organization