Indonesian Army

The Indonesian Army (Indonesian: Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat, TNI–AD), the land component of the Indonesian Armed Forces, has an estimated strength of 328,517 regular personnel.^{[citation needed]} The force's history began in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR) "Civil Security Forces" served as paramilitary and police.
Since the nation's independence struggle, the Indonesian Army has been involved in many operations involving foreign powers such as the incorporation of Western New Guinea, the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and the annexation of East Timor, as well as with internal operations in Aceh and Maluku.
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 totalling 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.
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. 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.^[5] 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).
• 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).
• 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.
  • Units include Batalyon Infanteri 714
• 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.
• Previously Irian Jaya and the Maluku islands were under Kodam VIII/Trikora. Kodam VIII/Trikora had in 1997 six infantry battalions plus engineer detachments. 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.

Operational Commands

 

• 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. 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, 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. 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)
  • KOSTRAD also commands several combat service support units such as combat engineers.

• Army Aviation Command The army had its own small air arm that performs liaison and limited transport duties. It operates 100 aircraft in several helicopter and aircraft squadrons composed mostly of light aircraft and small transports, such as the IPTN produced CN-235.

 By Wikipedia.Org