Indonesian Army
Indonesian Army
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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 early October 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. Under his leadership, the young Army began to fight as a unified force during the National Revolution.

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 formal 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.

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