The 11th Strategic Division (;

Abbr. An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

: 11 DIV STRAT), stylized XI Division, was a division-sized combat formation of the

Malaysian Army The Malaysian Army ( ms, Tentera Darat Malaysia; Jawi: تنترا دارت مليسيا) is the land component of the Malaysian Armed Forces. Steeped in British Army traditions, the Malaysian Army does not carry the title ‘royal’ () as do th ...

. The XI Division was the only division-sized combat formation made completely of

army reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

officers and men from the Malaysian Armed Forces Reserve until it was transformed into a strategic division on 2 May 1984. On 31 December 1993, the division was disbanded. What remained of its headquarters, including personnel and facilities, was absorbed into the newly formed

Malaysian Army Training and Doctrine Command The Malaysian Army Training and Doctrine Command (MyTRADOC, ms, Pemerintahan Latihan dan Doktrin Tentera Darat, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ڤمرينتهن لاتيهن دان دوکترين تنترا دارت), known as PL&DTD and PLDTD, is a milita ...

History

Founded as an infantry combat formation

This combat formation was established in 1969 as the 11th Infantry Division at Damansara Camp in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

as a combat formation for the Malaysian Army to defend

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

in the event of an armed conflict. It was established as a result of a collaboration between the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and the

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

, which at the time wanted to build a garrison for the university's reserve army. As part of the agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the University of Malaya, the garrison was built by the federal government on the university's land, but the garrison must be shared with the headquarters of the 11th Infantry Division. The division's headquarters remained in Damansara Camp until the year 1984, when it was relocated to Imphal Camp in Kuala Lumpur. The 8th Infantry Brigade is one of the formations under the command of the 11th Infantry Division.

Restructured to an army reserve combat formation

On 1 January 1980, the army command redesignated the 11th Infantry Division as the 11th Reserve Army Division, or ''Divisyen ke-11 Pasukan Simpanan Tentera Darat'' (: 11 DIV (PSTD)) in

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

. Its new role is to coordinate all reserve units under the Malaysian Army. Prior to this, the reserve army was not centralized, and its discipline was not as strict as that of the regular army. Many issues, especially logistics, were minimised under the command of the 11th Reserve Army Division.

Restructured to an experimental combat formation

On 2 May 1984, the 11th Reserve Army Division was restructured as the 11th Strategic Division, with the division's responsibilities including experimenting with military strategy and logistics so the Malaysian Army could have advantages in combat. On 1 March 1987, the 11 DIV STRAT chose the 8th Battalion of the

Royal Ranger Regiment The Royal Ranger Regiment ( ms, Rejimen Renjer Diraja; RRD) is an infantry regiment of the Malaysian Army. Although it is second in seniority to the Royal Malay Regiment (''; RAMD''), the RRD can trace its origins back to the mid 19th century an ...

to be trained as an

airborne unit Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...

in order to analyse its combat effectiveness. By July 1990, the efficiency of the airborne unit in combat had been recognised by higher command. As a result, two more battalions were selected to be converted to airborne roles at the end of 1990 and in 1992. The units that were under the command of the 11th Strategic Division at the time included the 10th Strategic Brigade (now known as the 10th Parachute Brigade) and 8th Squadron, Royal Army Engineers Regiment.

Dissolved

The Malaysian Army dissolved the 11th Strategic Division on 31 December 1993. The personnel and facilities of the 11 DIV STRAT HQ were absorbed into the newly established

References

{{Malaysian Army Malaysian Army Formations of the Malaysian Army