Siliwangi Division
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Military Regional Command III/Siliwangi ( id, Komando Daerah Militer III/Siliwangi or Kodam III/Siliwangi) is an
Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...
Regional Military Command The Indonesian Military Regional Commands ( id, Komando Daerah Militer; abbreviated ) are military districts of the Indonesian Army which function for territorial defence of various regions within the Indonesia, country. They cover one or multipl ...
that covers
Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Se ...
and
West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
province. The division was formed during the
Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...
by what was then known as the People's Security Army (TKR). It was stationed in
West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
where much of its membership was recruited, and bore the name of a 15th-century kingdom located in this area and of that kingdom's
King Siliwangi King Siliwangi was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pajajaran in West Java from 1482 to 1521. He was a member of the Sunda royal family and was the son of King Jayabaya and Queen Tribuana Tungga Dewi. Siliwangi was a skilled military leader and under ...
. it became a Territorial Division (Soldier & Territorium) on 24 July 1950, and a military regional command, or KODAM, in 1959. From May 1946 the division was commanded by then-colonel
Abdul Haris Nasution General of the Army Abdul Haris Nasution ( Old Spelling: Abdoel Haris Nasution; 3 December 1918 – 6 September 2000), was a high-ranking Indonesian general and politician. He served in the military during the Indonesian National Revolution an ...
and his adjutant was
Umar Wirahadikusumah Umar Wirahadikusumah (; 10 October 1924 – 21 March 2003) was an Indonesian politician and former army general, who served as the fourth Vice President of Indonesia, serving from 1983 until 1988. Previously, he was chair of the Audit Board of ...
, and slightly later Amirmachmud was the Division Commander's Chief of Staff.
Kemal Idris Ahmad Kemal Idris (10 February 1923 – 28 July 2010) was a prominent Indonesian Army general during the 1950s and 1960s. He was an Indonesian guerrilla leader during the Indonesian National Revolution, who in 1949 was involved in continued resis ...
was also among the division's officers. All of these would play a significant role in Indonesia's military and political life during the coming decades. Under the terms of the cease-fire agreement of January 1948 known as the
Renville Agreement The Renville Agreement was a United Nations Security Council-brokered political accord between the Netherlands, which was seeking to re-establish its colony in South East Asia, and Indonesian Republicans seeking for Indonesian independence durin ...
, the Siliwangi Division was obliged to evacuate
West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
and hand it over to the Dutch, and to move over to
Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...
. During this lull in fighting the colonial troops, the division was involved in the bloody crackdown against the People's Democratic Front (FDR) in the Madiun Affair, in the course of which thousands were killed. In December 1948 the Dutch army launched the surprise attack known as ''
Operation Kraai Operation Kraai (Operation Crow) was a Dutch military offensive against the ''de facto'' Republic of Indonesia in December 1948 after negotiations failed. With the advantage of surprise the Dutch managed to capture the Indonesian Republic's t ...
'', swiftly capturing the Indonesian provisional capital at
Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...
and most Indonesian territory. The Siliwangi Division at that time conducted a fighting retreat back to its original position in
West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
, where its men had their social milieu and were familiar with the terrain, and which was therefore the best suited for this unit to conduct guerrilla warfare in. Despite the division's recent anti-Communist record, this action came to be known as the Long March Siliwangi, for the famed
Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...
of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
's
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
. On arrival in West Java the division fought both the Dutch and the rebellious DI/TII. In 1953 Nasution wrote a book called the ''Fundamentals of Guerrilla Warfare'', based on his own experience of fighting and organising guerrilla warfare, which would become one of the most studied books on guerrilla warfare along with Mao's works on the same subject matter.
Poncke Princen Johannes Cornelis Princen (21 November 1925 – 2 February 2002), also known as Poncke Princen, was a Dutch anti-Nazi fighter and activist. In 1948, he deserted, joining the pro-independence guerrillas in what was then the Dutch Indies. ...
, a former Dutch colonial soldier who went over to the Indonesian rebels, took part in that "Long March" and was appointed a staff officer in the division. On 23 January 1950, a rebel group called Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil (APRA) led by Captain
Raymond Westerling Raymond Pierre Paul Westerling (31 August 1919 – 26 November 1987) was a Greek-Dutch military officer of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. He orchestrated a contraguerrilla in Sulawesi during the Indonesian National Revolution aft ...
attempted to seize
Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...
during the APRA Coup d'état. Lt. Col. Lembong and 93 other Indonesian soldiers and officers were killed. On 24 January 1950, the rebels tried to attack
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
, but the rebellion was quashed in a fierce battle in Pacet, near Jakarta.
Sultan Hamid II Sultan Hamid II (born Syarif Abdul Hamid Alkadrie; 12 July 1913 – 30 March 1978) was the eighth Sultan of Pontianak and the only President of the State of West Kalimantan from 1946 to its disestablishment in 1950. He was the eldest son of ...
was arrested, but Capt. Westerling managed to escape to
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
(then still a British colony).Kahin (1952), p. 454-56 In late 1951 the division was described as being 'a loose umbrella for five infantry brigades (each of which had up to four infantry battalions) strung across the western third of Java.' The post of commander of ''Tentara & Territorium III,'' the territorial military command encompassing west Java, was in effect synonymous with control of the division. Battalion 530 of the Siliwangi Division was involved in the 30 September Movement events in 1965. Following the later overthrow of Sukarno and the installation of the Indonesian "New Order" under
Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
, the Siliwangi Division's then commander, HR Dharsono, belonged to a faction dubbed by scholars as "New Order Radicals". Together with
Kemal Idris Ahmad Kemal Idris (10 February 1923 – 28 July 2010) was a prominent Indonesian Army general during the 1950s and 1960s. He was an Indonesian guerrilla leader during the Indonesian National Revolution, who in 1949 was involved in continued resis ...
and with
Sarwo Edhie Wibowo Lieutenant General (Ret.) Sarwo Edhie Wibowo (25 July 1925 – 9 November 1989) was an Indonesian military leader and the father of Kristiani Herrawati, the former first lady of Indonesia and the wife of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a ...
of KODAM II/Bukit Barisan (
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
), this group wanted
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
to be dismantled and replaced with non-ideological groups which emphasised
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...
and
modernisation Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...
. "Factionalism within the army leadership, once a severe problem, no longer disrupted operations in the early 1990s. Traditional divisional identification continued to have some significance, however, especially in regard to that developed in the former Siliwangi, Diponegoro, and Brawijaya divisions, which covered western, central, and eastern Java, respectively, during the war of independence and the years immediately thereafter. The detachment of the Jakarta area from the control of the Siliwangi division and the restructuring of the army from a divisional basis to the territorial Kodam system diffused the powers of the divisions and eliminated warlordism."


Territorial units

4 Military Area Commands and an Independent Military District Command comprise the command, which today covers the two provinces of West Java and Banten. 1. Korem 061/Surya Kencana (SK) :* Kodim 0606/Bogor City :* Kodim 0607/Sukabumi :* Kodim 0608/Cianjur :* Kodim 0621/Bogor Regency and Metropolitan Area :* Kodim 0622/Pelabuhan Ratu 2. Korem 062/Taruma Nagara (TN) :* Kodim 0609/Bandung Regency :* Kodim 0610/Sumedang :* Kodim 0611/Garut :* Kodim 0612/Tasikmalaya :* Kodim 0613/Ciamis 3. Korem 063/Sunan Gunung Jati (SGJ) :* Kodim 0604/Karawang :* Kodim 0605/Subang :* Kodim 0614/Cirebon City :* Kodim 0615/Kuningan :* Kodim 0616/Indramayu :* Kodim 0617/Majalengka :* Kodim 0619/Purwakarta :* Kodim 0620/Cirebon Regency 4. Korem 064/Maulana Yusuf (MY) :* Kodim 0601/Pandeglang :* Kodim 0602/Serang :* Kodim 0603/Lebak :* Kodim 0623/Cilegon 5. Kodim 0618/Bandung City (Separate)


Training regiment

The 3rd Regional Training Regiment (''Resimen Induk Kodam III/Siliwangi'') serves as the training regiment for new recruits to the territorial command. It is organized in the following manner: * Regiment HQ ** RMC III/Siliwangi NCO School ** Basic Combat Training Center ** National Defense Training Command ** Specialist Training School ** Enlisted Personnel Training Unit


Combat/Combat Support Units


Directly reporting units

* 15th Infantry Brigade/Kujang II :* Brigade HQ :* 301st Raider Infantry Battalion/Prabu Kian Santang :* 310th Infantry Battalion/Kidang Kencana :* 312th Infantry Battalion/Kala Hitam * 300th Raider Infantry Battalion/Brajawijaya (formerly Banjar Kedaton)


Territorial infantry

* 315th Infantry Battalion/Garuda * 320th Infantry Battalion/Badak Putih


Combat support

* 4th Cavalry Squadron/Tank Kijang Sakti * 3rd Combat Engineering Battalion/Yudha Wyogrha * 3rd light Air Defence Artillery Battalion/Yudha Bhuana Yaksa * 14th Medium Air Defence Artillery Battalion/Pratiti Wira Yudha * 4th Field Artillery Battalion/Parahiyangan * 5th Field Artillery Battalion/Pancagiri * 4th Assault Cavalry Troop/Tarantula Hitam Cakti


Support units

* TC III/Siliwangi Military Police Command (Pomdam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Public Relations Bureau (Pendam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Adjutant General's Office (Anjendam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Military Physical Fitness and Sports Bureau (Jasdam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Medical Department (Kesdam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Veterans and National Reserves Administration (Babiminvetcadam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Topography Service (Topdam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Chaplaincy Corps (Bintaldam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Finance Office (Kudam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Legal Affairs (Kumdam XIV/Hasanuddin) * TC III/Siliwangi HQ and HQ Services Detachment (Denmadam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Information and Communications Technology Oiffice (Infolahtadam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Supply Corps (Bekangdam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Signal Corps (Hubdam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Ordnance Corps (Paldam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Engineers Command (Zidam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Code Unit (Sandidam III/Siliwangi) * TC III/Siliwangi Intelligence Detachment (Deninteldam III/Siliwangi)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodam III Siliwangi Divisions of Indonesia Military regional commands of Indonesia Military units and formations established in 1946 Indonesian National Revolution Indonesian Army