Indonesian Army

The Indonesian Army (Indonesian: Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), lit. 'Indonesian National Military-Land Force') is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR) "People's Security Army" 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 regional command (Kodam), 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 (Kepala Staf Angkatan Darat – KSAD or KASAD).
In the week following the Japanese surrender of 1945, the Giyūgun (PETA) 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 under the national People's Security Agency built around charismatic leaders in the regions. 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 a meeting between former KNIL and former PETA Division Commanders, organised by chief of staff (KSO) of People's Security Agency, Oerip Soemohardjo, a thirty-year-old former school teacher and PETA member, Sudirman, was elected 'commander-in-chief' in Yogyakarta on 12 November 1945.
Aware of the limitations of their military in the face of the Dutch aggression, the people and government of Indonesia decided to fight foreign threats to the 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 forces with the people. By 1947, the young Army (then named Tentara Republik Indonesia Angkatan Darat) was organized into 10 infantry divisions, 7 Javanese and 3 Sumatran.
In accordance with the decision of the Round Table Conference (RTC), at the end of 1949 the United States of Indonesia (RIS) came into being. Correspondingly, the TNI's ground forces thus formed part of the Angkatan Perang Republik Indonesia Serikat (APRIS) (later the Angkatan Perang Republik Indonesia or APRI when the republic became unitary in 1950). 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 (laskar) which fought the war on the side of the independence movement.
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 the Just Ruler / 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 (RMS) 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 (PRRI / Permesta) 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 I. Garuda Contingent I began its first deployment 8 January 1957 to Egypt. Garuda Contingent I consisted of the combined personnel of the 15th Infantry Regiment Territorial Command (TT) 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 8 January 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 29 September 1957. Garuda Contingent I had a total number of 559 army personnel of all ranks.
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 (PKI) 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" (nationalism, religion and communism) 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 however. 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 (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 totalling six battalions, also part of Kostrad, one independent tank battalion, 7 independent armoured cavalry battalions, and four independent para-commando battalions.
The Indonesian Army is currently organized into 15 military regions which are spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago. They are placed under the jurisdiction of the army headquarters. 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 (Kostrad, strategic reserve forces) and Komando Pasukan Khusus (Kopassus, the Army special force) 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 and its relation to the Armed Forces General Headquarters and the other military branches are structured into the following in accordance with the provisions of Presidential Regulation No. 66 / 2019 on the Organization of the Indonesian National Armed Forces:
The following agencies are called Badan Pelaksana Pusat, translated as Central Executive Agencies, and directly subordinated under the Army Headquarters. Agencies with affix Pusat (Centers), Akademi (Academies), and Sekolah (Schools or Colleges) are headed by two-star Major General, while agencies with affix Dinas (Services/Departments) and Direktorat (Directorates) are headed by a one-star Brigadier General. Exceptions are made for the Army Territorial Center, Army Military Police Center, and Army Central Hospital as they are all headed by a three-star Lieutenant General.
Centers
Central Hospitals
Academies and Schools
Directorates
Services
The Army Strategic Reserve Command (Komando Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat), better known by its abbreviation Kostrad is the Indonesian Army's strategic operational command. It is a corps-level command which has around 40,000 troops, organized into three divisions. 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, and it is the main basic warfare combat unit of the Indonesian Army.
While Kopassus is the elite-special forces of the Indonesian Army, Kostrad is still maintained as the first-line combat unit of the TNI below the Kopassus. Despite its nomenclature as reserve units, it is also used as main combat force, 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 (including Airborne) units, Artillery, Cavalry, and other military combat units. The three division's composition and its headquarters are:
The Army Doctrine, Education and Training Development Command (Komando Pembinaan Doktrin, Pendidikan, dan Latihan TNI Angkatan Darat, abbreviated into Kodiklatad) is charged in providing training to all officers, warrant officers, NCOs and enlisted personnel of the Army. The Command HQ is based in Bandung, and organized into the following:
The Special Force Command (Komando Pasukan Khusus) or Kopassus for short, composed of an estimated 5,530 personnel organized into five brigade-level groups:
Except for the Special Force Education and Training Center, every Kopassus groups are tasked with maintaining its combat and operational readiness at any given moment. Each group is headed by a Colonel and all groups are qualified as airborne commandos. 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.
The territorial Military Regional Command or Military Area Command (Komando Daerah Militer) and its units below hierarchically serve as the main operational organization of the Indonesian Army. These military territories were established by General Sudirman (the then-Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces), following the model of the Nazi German Wehrkreis system. The system was later codified in Surat Perintah Siasat No. 1, signed into doctrine in November 1948.
The hierarchy of Indonesian Army territorial command is as follows:
There are currently fifteen Kodams established across Indonesia, with all but two commands numbered.
The Army's structure underwent various reorganizations throughout its early years. From 1946 to 1952 the Army was organized into a number of set combined arms divisions, dominated by infantry brigades. These were further consolidated in 1951, and then dispersed in 1952. From 1952 to 1958–59, the Army was organized into seven Territorial Armies (Tentara & Teritorium) 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 (the former territorial regiments), Districts (the former regimental battalions) and District Sectors, and operationally composed of a number of specialty 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 Defence Region Commands (Kowilhans) and the National Strategy Command (Kostranas) were eliminated from the defence structure, re-establishing the Military Regional Command (Kodam) 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 either under divisional control, under brigades, or as territorial infantry.
There are today 5 types of Infantry battalions in the Indonesian Army, which are:
All infantrymen of the Indonesian National Armed Forces have capabilities in Jungle warfare, including infantrymen from the Indonesian Marine Corps and Paskhas corps.
In the Army, as well as in other armed forces branches in Indonesia, the rank consists of three groups of ranks: Perwira for officers, Bintara for NCOs, and Tamtama for enlisted. The proper title to address of rank are as follows and applicable to all branch of TNI, all flag officers (generals, admirals, and air marshals) use their rank followed by "(TNI)", while senior and junior officers use their rank followed by respective branch/corps abbreviation. For example, an Army colonel with Infantry branch use the title "Kolonel INF" (read as Kolonel Infanteri), while an Army Major General from Infantry branch use the title "Mayor Jenderal (TNI)". 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.
Note: The red banding on the rank insignia denotes the personnel holding a command position which is agnostic of rank.