Reashot Xigwin
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Our defense spending and current demands
M. A. Haroen, Jakarta | Opinion | Thu, August 29 2013, 10:32 AM
When unveiling the draft state budget before a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Aug. 16, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would allocate Rp 83.4 trillion (US$7.58 billion) to defense spending in 2014, citing the need to boost the country’s military capability.
Actually the allocation is not so big in terms of the actual conditions faced by the Indonesian Military (TNI) forces at present. First of all the budget is broken down into the five organizational units: the Defense Ministry, TNI headquarters, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Second the bulk of the budget will go on personnel expenditure (salaries, allowances and personnel welfare), leaving the remainder for the purchase of military equipment.
Let us assume that the defense shopping list will consume 40 percent of the budget, or about $3.33 billion. Of this allocation, the priority will be on domestic procurement from the national defense industry. As indicated in the presidential statement, the defense allocation will prioritize the fulfillment of requirements for minimum essential forces (MEF). Therefore, the military budget is not quite as large as may be perceived.
Singapore’s Asian Defense and Diplomacy magazine reported that the Indonesian defense budget of $3.82 billion in 2008 was far lower than Singapore’s $5.83 billion. In the same year Malaysia allocated $3.48 billion, but with its armed forces personnel numbering 96,000, the impact of the latter’s budget was more significant than Indonesia’s, whose armed forces were four-and-a-half-times the size of those of Malaysia.
The main weapons systems of the TNI are still dominated by obsolete armaments and need replacement. The portion for the procurement of the main weapons systems will thus be smaller.
The TNI will certainly give priority to the fulfillment of armament needs to meet the standards laid down in the table of organization-equipment (TOE).
For instance, small-caliber ammunition, the TOE standard requires the presence of 3.4 x basic supplies. Since the middle of the 1990s, this particular need has not been achieved. There is still the demand in the Army for tactical infantry vehicles, with each battalion requiring 32 trucks of 2.5-ton capacity, quite apart from the need for armored combat vehicles, currently dominated by old tanks like AMX-13s.
The Republic of Indonesia is an archipelagic country and from the maritime perspective should ideally have a navy with a force of around 200 warships (KRI) and 100 backup vessels (KAL), while also upgrading naval bases.
Today the Navy only possesses a small number of modern warships (of corvette sigma class) and small-sized patrol boats in good condition, not to mention the need for submarines to guard the straits and sea lanes of the Indonesian archipelago. The same applies to the Marine Corps, the diver corps and the airborne unit of the Navy, whose equipment is relatively expensive.
The Air Force also needs a large number of modern combat aircraft to replace the fighters and transport planes that have to be phased out such as the F-5, A-4, OV-10, HS Hawk and short-tail C-130 Hercules aircraft. The acquisition of air-defense radar equipment also requires a major budget allocation.
The territory under the responsibility of the Air Force is vast because it covers the air space of territorial land and waters combined. It demands the services of patrol and surveillance aircraft equipped with sophisticated electronic devices.
Under the circumstances partly described above, the budget allocated to Indonesia’s defense is by no means large enough, and certainly not enough to boost military power. In reality, the allocation is just enough to meet part of the basic requirements of the TNI to conform to the principal logistical standards outlined in the TOE.
Let us hope that the allocation can be optimally utilized according to its targets without tolerating irregularities. Prudent use of defense funds is more pressing in the wake of the global economic crisis, which has weakened the Indonesian currency against the US dollar and forced Indonesia to lower economic growth projections.
The writer is an observer of defense affairs.
Our defense spending and current demands | The Jakarta Post
Hagel Talks to Indonesian Soldiers About Education, Training
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel prepares to board his aircraft at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Indonesia, Aug. 27, 2013, for his flight to Brunei, where he will participate in a regional security conference. The secretary is on a four-nation trip in the Asia-Pacific region to deepen cooperation and discuss regional security issues. DOD photo by Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Hostutler
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Aug. 27, 2013 – In the short time he had between meetings with national leaders and a news conference in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sat down yesterday with members of the Indonesian armed forces and talked about being a soldier.
After meeting earlier this week with officials in Malaysia and Indonesia, Hagel will continue his current trip with stop-offs in Brunei and the Philippines. This is Hagel’s second official visit to the Asia-Pacific region since taking office.
In Jakarta, Hagel sat at a table at the Defense Ministry alongside Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who had invited him to share some of his Army experiences. The secretary told the elite Indonesian soldiers sitting attentively in the audience that he fought as a relatively new soldier alongside his brother in a nearby Southeast Asian country 45 years ago.
“Well, I'm not in the same class or category with these soldiers,” Hagel said. “I did spend two years of my life in the United States Army. I fought in Vietnam in 1968, so I have some appreciation for war and for battle and what your challenges are, and [for] your training.”
A professional soldier -- one who is well trained, well led and well equipped -- is the pride of any country, the former Army sergeant said, praising the Indonesian soldiers’ professionalism.
“I know some of you have graduated and attended some of our military institutions in the United States. And we're very proud of you. We're proud of our graduates,” he said.
Hagel noted that the United States and Indonesia have many such exchanges through military exercises, training and education. People-to-people exchanges, “regardless of your profession, but in particular the military-to-military exchange, is a very solid bridge-building mechanism for countries,” he added.
Yusgiantoro invited questions from the audience, and a captain rose from his chair, describing himself as chief of operations at the 17th Airborne Infantry Brigade of the Indonesian Army Strategic Reserve Command, called Kostrad. His name, he said, is Agus Yudhoyono.
Everyone in the room recognized his last name. Just that morning, Hagel had met with the captain’s father, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The captain, who said it was an honor to have Hagel in Jakarta, had earned a master of public administration degree in 2010 from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Then, in 2011, he completed a six-month advanced officers' course, called the Maneuver Captain's Career Course, at Fort Benning, Ga., as part of the State Department’s International Military Education and Training program. IMET awards grants for training and education to students from allied and friendly nations.
“During the six months of rigorous training, I had the opportunity to enrich my military knowledge and experience through engagement with my fellow American officers who had been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Yudhoyono said.
The captain said he engaged with Americans, learned about local traditions and cultures, and found the experience personally and professionally rewarding.
For Hagel, the captain had recommendations for enhancing cooperation between the two militaries by enhancing the education and training portions of the IMET program.
“As for education, it will be very important for us if we can have a greater opportunity to send officers for post-graduate-level education,” Yudhoyono said. “It is critical to produce our very own soldier-scholars, because we want to develop our institution into a more professional, world-class military, including to produce brilliant strategic thinkers and defense practitioners.”
Military courses also are valuable, he added, “to help officers learn to develop doctrines, tactics and procedures so we can be a more developed and a more joint fighting force.”
In terms of training, the captain said, joint exercises conducted in Indonesia and also in the United States at advanced training facilities could help the Indonesians gain experience they might not otherwise have access to.
The secretary thanked Yudhoyono for his articulate summation and added his own words about the IMET program.
“I have always believed -- and I … know President [Barack] Obama and all of the leadership of the Pentagon and the American armed forces believe strongly -- that the IMET program is one of the smartest, best investments the United States can make in relationships around the world, and in particular, for the future. And I think you and many of your colleagues are very clear examples of that,” he said.
The consequences of training and education can hardly be quantified, Hagel added, but they are important.
“[All] of you are role models. … And that comes through a lot of things,” the secretary said. “It comes through education, through training, through the professionalization of your services. IMET does that as well as any one program I think the United States has, so you can be assured that program is going to continue, and we'll continue to enhance it.”
Later, during a joint news conference with Yusgiantoro, Hagel said he fully supports a proposal by the minister to establish a military alumni association for Indonesians who have trained in the United States and participated in joint exercises, and for Americans who have trained in Indonesian schools.
“There are thousands of officers who qualify,” Hagel said, “and this is a great opportunity to continue those people-to-people ties that deeply bind our two nations and militaries.”
M. A. Haroen, Jakarta | Opinion | Thu, August 29 2013, 10:32 AM
When unveiling the draft state budget before a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Aug. 16, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would allocate Rp 83.4 trillion (US$7.58 billion) to defense spending in 2014, citing the need to boost the country’s military capability.
Actually the allocation is not so big in terms of the actual conditions faced by the Indonesian Military (TNI) forces at present. First of all the budget is broken down into the five organizational units: the Defense Ministry, TNI headquarters, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Second the bulk of the budget will go on personnel expenditure (salaries, allowances and personnel welfare), leaving the remainder for the purchase of military equipment.
Let us assume that the defense shopping list will consume 40 percent of the budget, or about $3.33 billion. Of this allocation, the priority will be on domestic procurement from the national defense industry. As indicated in the presidential statement, the defense allocation will prioritize the fulfillment of requirements for minimum essential forces (MEF). Therefore, the military budget is not quite as large as may be perceived.
Singapore’s Asian Defense and Diplomacy magazine reported that the Indonesian defense budget of $3.82 billion in 2008 was far lower than Singapore’s $5.83 billion. In the same year Malaysia allocated $3.48 billion, but with its armed forces personnel numbering 96,000, the impact of the latter’s budget was more significant than Indonesia’s, whose armed forces were four-and-a-half-times the size of those of Malaysia.
The main weapons systems of the TNI are still dominated by obsolete armaments and need replacement. The portion for the procurement of the main weapons systems will thus be smaller.
The TNI will certainly give priority to the fulfillment of armament needs to meet the standards laid down in the table of organization-equipment (TOE).
For instance, small-caliber ammunition, the TOE standard requires the presence of 3.4 x basic supplies. Since the middle of the 1990s, this particular need has not been achieved. There is still the demand in the Army for tactical infantry vehicles, with each battalion requiring 32 trucks of 2.5-ton capacity, quite apart from the need for armored combat vehicles, currently dominated by old tanks like AMX-13s.
The Republic of Indonesia is an archipelagic country and from the maritime perspective should ideally have a navy with a force of around 200 warships (KRI) and 100 backup vessels (KAL), while also upgrading naval bases.
Today the Navy only possesses a small number of modern warships (of corvette sigma class) and small-sized patrol boats in good condition, not to mention the need for submarines to guard the straits and sea lanes of the Indonesian archipelago. The same applies to the Marine Corps, the diver corps and the airborne unit of the Navy, whose equipment is relatively expensive.
The Air Force also needs a large number of modern combat aircraft to replace the fighters and transport planes that have to be phased out such as the F-5, A-4, OV-10, HS Hawk and short-tail C-130 Hercules aircraft. The acquisition of air-defense radar equipment also requires a major budget allocation.
The territory under the responsibility of the Air Force is vast because it covers the air space of territorial land and waters combined. It demands the services of patrol and surveillance aircraft equipped with sophisticated electronic devices.
Under the circumstances partly described above, the budget allocated to Indonesia’s defense is by no means large enough, and certainly not enough to boost military power. In reality, the allocation is just enough to meet part of the basic requirements of the TNI to conform to the principal logistical standards outlined in the TOE.
Let us hope that the allocation can be optimally utilized according to its targets without tolerating irregularities. Prudent use of defense funds is more pressing in the wake of the global economic crisis, which has weakened the Indonesian currency against the US dollar and forced Indonesia to lower economic growth projections.
The writer is an observer of defense affairs.
Our defense spending and current demands | The Jakarta Post
Hagel Talks to Indonesian Soldiers About Education, Training
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel prepares to board his aircraft at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Indonesia, Aug. 27, 2013, for his flight to Brunei, where he will participate in a regional security conference. The secretary is on a four-nation trip in the Asia-Pacific region to deepen cooperation and discuss regional security issues. DOD photo by Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Hostutler
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Aug. 27, 2013 – In the short time he had between meetings with national leaders and a news conference in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sat down yesterday with members of the Indonesian armed forces and talked about being a soldier.
After meeting earlier this week with officials in Malaysia and Indonesia, Hagel will continue his current trip with stop-offs in Brunei and the Philippines. This is Hagel’s second official visit to the Asia-Pacific region since taking office.
In Jakarta, Hagel sat at a table at the Defense Ministry alongside Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who had invited him to share some of his Army experiences. The secretary told the elite Indonesian soldiers sitting attentively in the audience that he fought as a relatively new soldier alongside his brother in a nearby Southeast Asian country 45 years ago.
“Well, I'm not in the same class or category with these soldiers,” Hagel said. “I did spend two years of my life in the United States Army. I fought in Vietnam in 1968, so I have some appreciation for war and for battle and what your challenges are, and [for] your training.”
A professional soldier -- one who is well trained, well led and well equipped -- is the pride of any country, the former Army sergeant said, praising the Indonesian soldiers’ professionalism.
“I know some of you have graduated and attended some of our military institutions in the United States. And we're very proud of you. We're proud of our graduates,” he said.
Hagel noted that the United States and Indonesia have many such exchanges through military exercises, training and education. People-to-people exchanges, “regardless of your profession, but in particular the military-to-military exchange, is a very solid bridge-building mechanism for countries,” he added.
Yusgiantoro invited questions from the audience, and a captain rose from his chair, describing himself as chief of operations at the 17th Airborne Infantry Brigade of the Indonesian Army Strategic Reserve Command, called Kostrad. His name, he said, is Agus Yudhoyono.
Everyone in the room recognized his last name. Just that morning, Hagel had met with the captain’s father, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The captain, who said it was an honor to have Hagel in Jakarta, had earned a master of public administration degree in 2010 from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Then, in 2011, he completed a six-month advanced officers' course, called the Maneuver Captain's Career Course, at Fort Benning, Ga., as part of the State Department’s International Military Education and Training program. IMET awards grants for training and education to students from allied and friendly nations.
“During the six months of rigorous training, I had the opportunity to enrich my military knowledge and experience through engagement with my fellow American officers who had been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Yudhoyono said.
The captain said he engaged with Americans, learned about local traditions and cultures, and found the experience personally and professionally rewarding.
For Hagel, the captain had recommendations for enhancing cooperation between the two militaries by enhancing the education and training portions of the IMET program.
“As for education, it will be very important for us if we can have a greater opportunity to send officers for post-graduate-level education,” Yudhoyono said. “It is critical to produce our very own soldier-scholars, because we want to develop our institution into a more professional, world-class military, including to produce brilliant strategic thinkers and defense practitioners.”
Military courses also are valuable, he added, “to help officers learn to develop doctrines, tactics and procedures so we can be a more developed and a more joint fighting force.”
In terms of training, the captain said, joint exercises conducted in Indonesia and also in the United States at advanced training facilities could help the Indonesians gain experience they might not otherwise have access to.
The secretary thanked Yudhoyono for his articulate summation and added his own words about the IMET program.
“I have always believed -- and I … know President [Barack] Obama and all of the leadership of the Pentagon and the American armed forces believe strongly -- that the IMET program is one of the smartest, best investments the United States can make in relationships around the world, and in particular, for the future. And I think you and many of your colleagues are very clear examples of that,” he said.
The consequences of training and education can hardly be quantified, Hagel added, but they are important.
“[All] of you are role models. … And that comes through a lot of things,” the secretary said. “It comes through education, through training, through the professionalization of your services. IMET does that as well as any one program I think the United States has, so you can be assured that program is going to continue, and we'll continue to enhance it.”
Later, during a joint news conference with Yusgiantoro, Hagel said he fully supports a proposal by the minister to establish a military alumni association for Indonesians who have trained in the United States and participated in joint exercises, and for Americans who have trained in Indonesian schools.
“There are thousands of officers who qualify,” Hagel said, “and this is a great opportunity to continue those people-to-people ties that deeply bind our two nations and militaries.”
