Kostrad

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KOSTRAD (Komando Strategis Cadangan Angkatan Darat) is the Indonesian Army's Strategic Reserve Command. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has up to 35,000 troops. It also supervises operational readiness among all commands and conducts defense and security operations at the strategic level in accordance with policies of the TNI commander.

KOSTRAD Headquarters

1 History
2 Structure
3 Strength
4 Deployment
5 List of KOSTRAD Commanders
6 See also

[edit] History

KOSTRAD came into being during military action for Indonesia's take over of Western New Guinea in 1960, and was formally constituted on 6 March 1961. Initially designated the Army General Reserve Corps, its name was changed to KOSTRAD in 1963.

[edit] Structure

As a corps, KOSTRAD is commanded by a Panglima (Supreme Commander), usually a lieutenant general and he reports directly to Supreme Commander of the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National Armed Forces).

Starting 1984 the Panglima of KOSTRAD (PANGKOSTRAD) has been charged to lead the conduct of combat operations, called defense and security operations.

[edit] Strength

Currently, KOSTRAD has a strength of 35,000 to 40,000 personnel and its primary components consist of two infantry divisions:

1st Division, headquartered at Cilodong, West Java, comprising the 3rd and the 13th Infantry Brigades, and the 17th Airborne Brigade
2nd Division, headquartered at Malang, East Java comprising the the 6th and 9th infantry brigades, and the 18th Airborne Brigade.

KOSTRAD also commands the following independent units:

3rd Para-Commando Brigade (formerly the KOPASSUS 3rd Para-Commando Group),
1st Cavalry brigade
two field artillery regiments and
several combat service support units such as combat engineersand military police.

[edit] Deployment

These green-beret troops have never been absent from the various military operations, such as G-30-S/PKI (30 September Movement/Indonesian Communist Party), Trisula, the PGRS (Sarawak People's Guerrilla Force) in Sarawak, the PARAKU (North Kalimantan People's Force) in North Kalimantan, and Operation Seroja in East Timor. KOSTRAD troops have also been relied on at the international level, as was the case with Garuda troops in Egypt (1973-78) and Vietnam (1973-75) and with those in the combined peace force in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War of 1989 and 1990.