Order of battle of the Indonesian National Armed Forces as of January 1946

The following is an order of battle of the Indonesian National Armed Forces as of 8 January 1946, after the then People's Security Armed Forces (Tentara Keamanan Rakyat) was transformed into the People's Safety Armed Forces (Tentara Keselamatan Rakyat) by Presidential Resolution #2/1946.

Formation of the People's Security Armed Forces

The INAF traces its origins to the 5 October 1945 declaration of the formation of an active national armed forces for the republic by no less than the first Vice President of Indonesia, Mohammad Hatta, acting on behalf of then president Sukarno, on the basis of the People's Security Agency (Badan Keamanan Rakyat) created just days after independence as a paramilitary gendarmerie for the infant republic, originally planned as a national army. ^[1][2] The job of activating a national military fell on the hands of ex-Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Major Oerip Soemohardjo, who was appointed the first Commander of the Armed Forces ad interim, pending any word from Soeprijadi, who would be appointed the first commander of the armed services. Many of the first generation enlisted personnel and NCOs served either with the Defenders of the Homeland (Pembela Tanah Air, or PETA) or the Japanese-sponsored Heiho, both during the period of Japanese occupation, reinforced by youthful pemuda or revolutionaries later on, while many of its officer corps who served in either of the two were trained as cadets of the RNEIA in the Koninklijke Militaire Academie in Breda, The Netherlands and were commissioned into that force.^{[1] [3]} However, these officers were poorly received by Indonesian nationalists, who viewed them as mercenaries for having served in the Dutch forces. Although Oerip set out a command structure, in reality the army's hierarchy was provisional and depended heavily on the strength of local units.^[4]

On 14 October, General Oerip officially received his interim appointment and left immediately for Jakarta. In a cabinet meeting the following day,^[5] he was ordered to build a national armed forces headquartered in Yogyakarta, in preparation for an expected assault by Dutch troops coming to reclaim the Indies.^[6] Urip had originally suggested using Purwokerto for his headquarters, but ultimately Yogyakarta was chosen as it had better facilities and guaranteed support from the local ruler.^[7] He departed for Yogyakarta on 16 October, and arrived the following day. He first established the general headquarters in a room at Hotel Merdeka, which he used until the Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengkubuwono IX donated land and a building to be utilized as the General Headquarters of the young armed forces. ^[8] On 20 October, when learning that Soeprijadi was declared missing ^[a] Imam Muhammad Suliyoadikusumo was appointed by the cabinet as ad interim Minister of Defence, later on the guerrilla leader Moestopo declared himself Minister of Defence. As such, Oerip had little oversight and felt pressured to quickly establish a stable command structure, while also began to form the a high command structure for the armed services, and later moved the general HQ to Purwokerto.^[9]

On 2 November, the ground forces of the nascent INAF, the future Indonesian Army, were divided into four territorial corps, each led by a general officer. These were Didi Kartasasmita for western Java, Soeratman for central Java, Mohammad for eastern Java and Soehardjo Hardjowardojo for Sumatra.

Each of these sub-commanders was commissioned into the rank of major general.^[10] Oerip also began appropriating weapons to different TKR commands. He took confiscated Japanese weapons from well-equipped forces and distributed them as needed.^[11] However, the results were less successful than he had hoped. PETA had been organised locally during the Japanese occupation, and as such its members were unable to accept a centralised leadership.^[12]

Appointment of Soedirman

On 12 November 1945, at the first general meeting of army leadership, Colonel Soedirman – the then commanding officer of the Fifth Division in Purwokerto, who had two years military experience and was 23 years younger than Urip – was elected Commanding General of the Armed Forces (Panglima Besar) following two deadlocked votes.^[13] In the third round, General Oerip had 21 votes to Soedirman's 22. Divisional commanders from Sumatera, who had voted unanimously, swayed the vote in Sudirman's favour;^[14] Urip had lost votes because some of the division leaders distrusted his history with the KNIL and the oath he had taken to the Dutch motherland upon graduation.^[15] Although Soedirman was surprised at his selection and offered to surrender the leadership position to Oerip, the meeting did not allow it; he himself was glad to no longer be in charge of the armed forces. Soedirman kept Oerip, by then a lieutenant general, to serve as chief of staff of the armed forces.^[16] While Soedirman remained unconfirmed, Urip remained de jure commander; however, the Indonesian journalist Salim Said writes that his orders were at times unintelligible owing to Urip's poor command of Indonesian and often ignored unless approved by Soedirman.^[b][17]

When General Soedirman was approved on 18 December, he began working to consolidate and unite the armed forces. Meanwhile, Oerip handled day-to-day organisational and technical issues.^[18][16] Many of the details, such as company uniforms, he left to regional commanders.^[c] However, to deal with more important issues, such as establishing a military police and preventing enemy paratroopers from landing, he passed edicts that applied nationally.^[16]Together, Soedirman and Oerip were instrumental to unite the differences between armed forces personnel who served in both sides of the Second World War and were now united under one armed service.

Creation of the navy and air force

One of Oerip's final orders as Commander of the Armed Forces was to create a national navy, to that effort the Indonesian Navy (then the People's Security Navy or TKR Laut) was officially established, with HQ in Yogyakarta, on 15 November 1945. Mas Pardi, Mohammad Nazir, Soemarno, RE Martadinata, and R Soeardi of the armed forces general staff were all instrumental in its formation, Pardi would later be named the first Chief of Staff of the Navy with effect from 1 December 1945. ^[19] By New Year's Eve 1945, the Navy was divided into four fleet divisions and was starting its naval bases in the republican territories in Sumatra with access to the sea.

Order of battle of the armed forces as of 8 January 1946

Source: ^[20]

Supreme General Command

• President of Indonesia: Sukarno
• Vice President of Indonesia: Mohammad Hatta
• Prime Minister of Indonesia: Sutan Sjahrir
• Minister of Defence of the Republic: Amir Sjarifoeddin
• Commanding General of the People's Safety Armed Forces: Gen Soedirman
• Chief of the General Staff: Lt Gen Oerip Soemohardjo
• Chief of Staff of the Navy: Rear Adm Mas Pardi

Territorial Corps

General Directorate of Aviation of the General Staff of the Armed Forces

• Chief of Military Aviation: AVM Soerjadi Soerjadarma
• Deputy Chief of Military Aviation: Group Captain Soekarmen Martodisoemo

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Anderson, Benedict Richard O'Gorman (2005). Java in a Time of Revolution: Occupation and Resistance, 1944–1946. Jakarta: Equinox. ISBN 978-979-3780-14-6.
• Imran, Amrin (1983). Urip Sumohardjo (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Department of Education and Culture. OCLC 10945069.
• Soemohardjo-Soebroto, Rohmah (1973). Oerip Soemohardjo : Letnen Jenderal TNI (22 Februari 1893 – 17 November 1948) [Oerip Soemohardjo : Lieutenant General of the TNI (22 February 1893 – 17 November 1948)] (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gunung Agung. OCLC 13266021.
• Markas Besar TNI (2000). Sejarah TNI Jilid I (1945-1949). Jakarta: Pusat Sejarah Dan Tradisi TNI. ISBN 979-9421-00-4. 979-9421-01-2.
• Said, Salim (1991). Genesis of Power: General Sudirman and the Indonesian Military in Politics, 1945–49. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-981-3035-90-4.

See also

• Military history of Indonesia
• Indonesian National Revolution

This page was last edited on 22 September 2023, at 11:19