Where should Kodam be positioned?<\/p>\n
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In the big city of Jakarta, where there are neither simmering
\nseparatist movements nor challenges from foreign invaders, where
\nshould the dear soldiers of the city Military Command (Kodam) be
\npositioned?<\/p>\n
Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political and military critic from the
\nIndonesian Science and Research Institute (LIPI), said the troops
\nwere needed to safeguard the nation, and should concentrate on
\nsecurity threats to the country and not \"an established and
\npolitically aware population,\" like Jakarta's.<\/p>\n
\"This is not because I am against Kodam, or its territorial
\nfunction, but more for efficiency,\" he said. \"If there is a need
\nfor territorial command in certain areas, then it should be an
\nintegrated one for all elements of the Armed Forces.\"<\/p>\n
There are at least 3,000 soldiers in Jakarta, whose main job
\nis to help the police keep the city secure, during things like
\nthe Idul Fitri exodus and the Christmas masses in churches.<\/p>\n
Jakarta's Military Command which just marked its 52nd
\nanniversary on Monday, becomes the base for army soldiers in the
\ncapital. Other elements, the Navy and the Air Force, also have
\ntheir own commands in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"Our mistake is that we do not push the government to build
\nmilitary barracks for the soldiers, so when the public demands
\nfor them to return to barracks, where do they have to go?\" Ikrar
\nasked.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta provincial military command, however, is still
\nstrong, despite calls to scrap the military's territorial
\ncommands, which to many observers, are regarded to be part of its
\nomnipresent and complex network of control over Indonesia.<\/p>\n
They range from commands at the national to village level,
\nwhich used to attract strong criticism.<\/p>\n
This extensive network is comprised of Regional Military
\nCommands (Kodam) in most of Indonesia's 32 provinces, Resort
\nMilitary Commands in small provinces; District Military Commands
\n(Kodim) in regencies and mayoralties, along with Subdistrict
\nMilitary Commands (Koramil) in subdistricts and Military
\nRepresentatives Posts in villages.<\/p>\n
Many said that the Jakarta command was a pivotal training
\nground for officers seeking to enter higher positions -- such
\npractices were obvious during the administration of former
\npresident Soeharto, who himself was a five-star general.<\/p>\n
Some of the generals who \"graduated\" from the command were
\nformer vice president Try Sutrisno; former military chief Gen.
\n(ret) Wiranto; Jakarta Governor Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso; chief of
\nthe Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Ryamizard
\nRiacudu and Coordinating Minister for Security, Political and
\nWelfare affairs Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.<\/p>\n
Unlike during 1945 or the revolutionary wars, Ikrar further
\nstressed that, ideally, the soldiers should be in military
\nbarracks and practicing their military skills, or be assigned in
\nremote areas or border areas with neighboring countries where
\nthreats of foreign invasion were obvious.<\/p>\n
Another military critic from the Center for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies (CSIS), Kusnanto Anggoro, said in a seminar
\nin October that the military's territorial functions will still
\nbe needed in Indonesia over the next 20 years, but added that
\nthis was largely due to local politicians' lack of will and an
\nabsence of public readiness to create civil self-defense system.<\/p>\n
The former Indonesian Military (TNI's) chief for territorial
\naffairs, Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo, who once disclosed a plan to
\nabolish the military's territorial role, said it would take a
\nlong time to replace such a function. He said, however, that the
\nTNI was prepared to hand over their security function to the
\nNational Police and provincial administrations.<\/p>\n
The takeover could not be conducted immediately, as several
\nfactors needed to be considered, including the public's
\nreadiness, the availability of substitute bodies and the TNI's
\ninternal management, Agus said.<\/p>",
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