Nirmala Maulana Achmad, Jakarta – Army Chief of Staff (KSAD) General Dudung Abdurachman says that every province in Indonesia will have a regional military command (Kodam) headquarters.
This includes establishing regional military commands in the four new provinces in Papua, namely the provinces of South Papua, Central Papua, Papua Highlands and South-West Papua.
"In line with the order by the Menhan (Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto), and the TNI [Indonesian military] commander (Admiral Yudo Margono) we agree, later each province will have a Kodam. Later we will propose to the TNI commander, it's already been proposed. The commander will later propose this to the Kemhan [Department of Defense]", said Abdurachman following an Army leadership meeting at the Army's headquarters in Jakarta on Friday February 10.
After being agreed to by the Defense Department and the TNI commander, the next step in the process is to submit the proposal to the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (Kemenpan-RB).
"Of course it will also be discussed with the Finance Minister (Sri Mulyani), because it's related to the budgetary issues", said Abdurachman.
It is planned, continued Abdurachman, that the proposal for a Kodam in every province can be agreed to this year.
"This year, it's just a matter of transfers. For example, at the Lampung Korem [Sub-Regional Military Command] the one-star Danrem [military commander] becomes a Pangdam [regional military commander], later the Danrem becomes a Kasdam [Jakarta Military Command Chief of Staff]", said Abdurachman.
The TNI currently has 15 Regional Military Commands throughout Indonesia. They are the Kodam I/Bukit Barisan (Medan, North Sumatra), the Kodam II/Sriwijaya (Palembang, South Sumatra), the Kodam III/Siliwangi (Bandung, West Java), the Kodam V/Brawijaya (Surabaya, East Java), the Kodam VI/Mulawarman (Balikpapan, East Kalimantan), the Kodam IX/Udaya (Denpasar, Bali) and the Kodam XII/Tanjungpura (Kubu Raya, Central Kalimantan).
Then there is the Kodam XIII/Merdeka (Manado, Central Sulawesi), the Kodam XIV/Hasanuddin (Makassar, South Sulawesi), the Kodam XVI/Pattimura (Ambon, North Maluku), the Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih (Papua), the Kodam XVIII/Kasuari (West Papua), the Kodam Jayakarta (Keramat Jati, Jakarta) and the Kodam Iskandar Muda (Banda Aceh, Aceh).
Notes
The TNI's territorial command structure mandates the deployment of military command posts and detachments at all levels of the civil administration: provincial, district, sub- district and village. This structure provides the organisational framework for the TNI to act as a political security force at all levels of society.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Sepakat dengan Menhan dan Panglima TNI, KSAD Sebut Setiap Provinsi Akan Punya Kodam".]
