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.