Armed Forces undergoes generation changes

Armed Forces undergoes generation changes

SINGAPORE: Now that the commotion surrounding the Indonesian
general election on May 29, 1997, has more or less subsided, the
preoccupation of ABRI - the Indonesian Armed Forces - is to clean
up the mess and set the stage for another equally, if not more,
important event: the March 1998 sessions of the MPR - People's
Consultative Assembly - during which Indonesia's GBHN - State
Major Policy Guidelines - are deliberated and adopted, and a new
president acting as MPR's mandate holder is elected.

ABRI's subsequent and more significant task is to meet the
challenges of the end of the 20th century and beyond. Therefore,
it is worth observing what ABRI has been doing recently to
prepare for the new challenges following one of the most
controversial elections during Indonesia's New Order.

A significant recent development has been the realignment of
the organizations of the Indonesian Navy, Air Force and Police to
make them similar to that of the Indonesian Army. This was
officially announced on July 18, 1997, although the term used was
not realignment but validation (validasi), meaning confirmation.
The purpose of these realignments was to improve productivity,
effectiveness and efficiency of ABRI's organizations and
functions.

The most significant aspect of the realignments was ABRI's
attempt to make the Indonesian Police come to the fore-front in
handling domestic security affairs which the Indonesian Police
Chief claimed to be "the return to the universally fundamental
duties of the police". Consequently, the most far-reaching
realignments and reassignments took place in the Indonesian
Police involving 25 important positions at its headquarters, and
18 regional police commander positions.

Even its Criminal Investigation Directorate was upgraded to
the corps level headed by a major general instead of a brigadier
general. In a separate but concomitant development, the
parliament (DPR - People's Representative Council) has been
drafting a bill on the mission and function of the Indonesian
Police. Once adopted, the new law will replace Law number 13/1961
which has been in effect for more than three decades.

The realignments entail the abolition of the positions of
Deputies for Operations and Personnel in the three branches of
the armed forces as well as those of Agency Directors. Instead,
like the Indonesian Army, the Indonesian Navy and Air Force each
now has the position of the "Vice Chief of Staff" while the
Indonesian Police that of the "Vice Chief of Police". In
addition, the positions of Asisten (assistant) and Wakil Asisten
(vice-assistant) in charge of intelligence, operations,
personnel, planning and budgeting, and logistics were added to
the respective branches of the armed forces. The Indonesian Army
has retained its position for Territorial Affairs - its Dwifungsi
and its territorial command structure.

Reassignments

The unprecedented large scale overhaul of ABRI's organizations
under General Feisal Tanjung took place earlier, in February and
March 1995, and involved the relief and reassignment of 160
general and field grade officers of the Indonesian armed
services. It was the largest change in a decade of positions at
the national and regional levels. General Tanjung's predecessors,
Generals L.B. Murdani and Try Sutrisno, had used staggered
reassignment programs to effect command changes. In the 1995
overhaul, however, the changes affected primarily the pre-1970
graduates of the service academies.

One of the most significant events after the May 29, 1997,
general election was the appointment of Lieutenant-General
Wiranto as the Indonesian Army Chief of Staff to replace General
R. Hartono, who had been named Minister of Information to succeed
Harmoko. Harmoko, who concurrently served as the General Chairman
of Golkar, had been appointed State Minister for Special Affairs.

Wiranto, the best graduate of AMN (Academi Militer Nasional -
the National Military Academy) class of 1968, was promoted to
four-star general rank on June 6, 1997, on par with the Chiefs of
Staff of the Navy and Air Force and the Police Chief who had been
promoted to those positions in March 1996. The appointment of
Wiranto who until recently commanded the Kostrad (Army Strategic
Reserve Command) and headed ABRI's most extensive combined
exercise on Natuna island in 1996 confirmed earlier speculations
and analyses that he would play a leading role and would be the
most likely candidate for the position of ABRI Commander when
General Tanjung leaves.

In ABRI's July 18, 1997, announcement concerning
organizational realignments and the reassignments of 298
personnel occupying positions held by general officers, all the
positions of regional commanders, except that of Jakarta Raya,
were assigned to graduates of the 1970s from the service
academies.

Defense budget

In the 1997 edition of Indonesian Department of Defense White
Paper entitled Kebijakan Pertahanan Keamanan Negara R.I 1997 (The
Policy of Defense and Security of Indonesia), the nation's
defense budget in FY1995-96 amounted to approximately 1.8 percent
of Indonesia's GDP, of which the ratio of routine defense
expenditure to that of defense development was three to one. It
is expected that in the near future the budget will increase to
between 2 percent and 3 percent of the GDP. Of the budget of
approximately US$2.3 billion, 26.8 percent was allocated to the
Indonesian Police, and the balance to the Army, Navy and Air
Force.

No substantial increase in Indonesia's armament has been in
evidence. In a letter to the Clinton Administration dated May 26,
1997, the Indonesian government made its decision known to cancel
the purchase of some F-16 fighters and to discontinue
participation in the Expanded International Military Education
and Training (E-IMET) program. In another development, Indonesia
has planned to purchase Russian Su-30 fighters for its Air Force,
and Russian MI helicopters for its Army Air Corps.

However, these developments do not mean cessation of military
links in the U.S. and other Western countries. Earlier this year
the Indonesian Navy received a reconditioned warship from the
U.S. and scores of refurbished maritime patrol aircraft from
Australia. And recently, the Indonesian Army Chief of Staff
General Wiranto sent off a few dozen military cadets and
personnel to attend degree programs at American and British
universities.

Conclusion

Indonesian political stability and national security are vital
nationally, regionally and internationally. Nevertheless, ABRI
seems to keep its low-key posture and the modest development it
has maintained in the last three decades. ABRI's 1997 realignment
programs serve not only to improve its performance in relation to
its main mission of safeguarding Indonesia, but also to shift
some of its responsibility for handling domestic affairs to the
Indonesian Police.

Through attrition, ABRI's leadership has shifted gradually and
in an orderly fashion from the old generation of military leaders
to the mostly post-1970 new generation of officers who underwent
training and performed subsequent assignments under more stable
and favorable social, political and economic conditions.

Dr. Rukmantoro Hadi Sumukti is a Research Fellow at the
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.