page_title: Ahmad Yani
section_title: Career with the Indonesian military
hierarchical_section_title: Ahmad Yani / Career with the Indonesian military
caption_attribution_description: Col. A Yani leading a briefing on 12 April 1958
context_page_description: General Ahmad Yani was the commander of the Indonesian Army, and was killed by members of the 30 September Movement during an attempt to kidnap him from his house.
context_section_description: After Independence Yani joined the army of the fledgling republic and fought against the Dutch. During the first months after the Declaration of Independence, Yani formed a battalion with himself as Commander and led it to victory against the British at Magelang. Yani then followed this up by successfully defending Magelang against the Dutch when it tried to take over the city, earning him the nickname of the "Savior of Magelang". Another notable highlight of Yani's career during this time period was the series of guerilla offensives he launched in early 1949 to distract the Dutch whilst Lieutenant Colonel Suharto prepared for the 1 March General Offensive which was to be directed at Yogyakarta and its suburbs.
  After Indonesia's independence was recognized by the Dutch, Yani was transferred to Tegal, Central Java. In 1952, he was called back into action to fight the Darul Islam, a group of rebels seeking to establish a theocracy in Indonesia. To deal with this rebel group, Yani formed a special forces group called the Banteng Raiders (today the 400th Raider Infantry Battalion, Kodam IV/Diponegoro). The decision to call in Yani paid dividends and over the next 3 years, Darul Islam forces in Central Java suffered one defeat after another.
  In December 1955, Yani left for the United States to study at the Command and General staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Returning in 1956, Yani was transferred to the Army Headquarters in Jakarta where he became a staff member for General Abdul Haris Nasution. At the Army Headquarters, Yani served as Logistics Assistant to the Army Chief of Staff before becoming Deputy Army Chief of Staff for Organization and Personnel.
  In August 1958, he commanded Operation 17 August against the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia rebels in West Sumatra. His troops managed to recapture Padang and Bukittinggi, and this success led to his being promoted to 2nd deputy Army chief of staff on 1 September 1962, and then Army chief of staff on 13 November 1963 (automatically becoming a member of the cabinet), replacing General Nasution, who was appointed Minister of Defence.
caption: Col. Yani leading a briefing on 12 April 1958 during Operation 17 August
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