The role of the separate armed services has not changed since 1969, when the heads of the army, navy, and air force were reduced to chiefs of staff. Operational control of almost all their military units was vested in the commander in chief, reducing the headquarters of each military service to the status of administrative organs. Only the police chief continued to exercise operational control over his own personnel. Communist victories in South Vietnam and Cambodia prompted national authorities to reconsider both the external threat the nation faced and how best to meet it. Consequently, the new minister of defence and security, General Mohammad Jusuf, directed a major upgrading of armed forces military capabilities. This upgrade included increased training and procurement of sufficient equipment and personnel to establish a core of some 100 fully ready combat battalions. Under Jusuf, the armed forces initiated extensive retraining and reorganization programs that culminated in a major reorganization of the armed forces in 1985. Largely retained intact when split off from HANKAM in 1985, the ABRI staff and its functions remained directly subordinate to the commander in chief, who remained, in turn, directly responsible to the president, also the supreme commander of the armed forces. Under the commander in chief, there was a provision for a deputy, a position that in 1992 was not filled. There were two ABRI chiefs of staff, one for the general staff and one for social-political affairs. The inspector general and the assistant for plans and budget, as well as a number of agencies and institutes, remained directly under the commander in chief. The ABRI chief of general staff directed assistants for communications/electronics, intelligence, logistics, operations, personnel, public security affairs, and territorial affairs, the chief of staff for social-political affairs directed the armed forces' dwifungsi operations in the civilian sector of the government through assistants for nonmilitary workers' affairs and for social-political affairs. The ABRI joint staff supported the headquarters of each of the four services. Staff personnel were drawn from all four services. Police officers served only in positions related to internal security

The 1985 reorganization also made significant changes in the armed forces chain of command. The four multiservice Regional Defense Commands (Kowilhans) and the National Strategic Command (KOSTRANAS) were eliminated from the defense structure, establishing the Military Regional Command (KODAM), or area command, as the key organization for strategic, tactical, and territorial operations for all services. The chain of command flowed directly from the ABRI commander in chief to the ten KODAM commanders, and then to subordinate army territorial commands. The commander in chief exercises control over most of the combat elements of the army, navy, and air force through the ten army KODAMs, the two air force KO-OPs, and the two navy Armadas. ABRI's military operations relied on a well-developed doctrine of national defence called Total People's Defence, based on experiences during the struggle for independence. This doctrine proclaimed that Indonesia could neither afford to maintain a large military apparatus nor would it compromise its hard-won independence by sacrificing its nonaligned status and depending on other nations to provide its defence. Instead, the nation would defend itself through a strategy of territorial guerrilla warfare in which the armed forces, deployed throughout the nation, would serve as a cadre force to rally and lead the entire population in a people's war of defence. Military planners envisioned a three-stage war, comprising a short initial period in which an invader would defeat conventional Indonesian resistance and establish its own control, a long period of unconventional, regionally based fighting, and a final phase in which the invaders would eventually be repelled. The success of this strategy, according to the doctrine, required that a close bond be maintained between citizen and soldier to encourage the support of the entire population and enable the military to manage all war-related resources. In this scenario, the people would provide logistical support, intelligence, and upkeep, and, as resources permitted, some civilians would be organized, trained, and armed to join the guerrilla struggle. In trying to attain these goals, ABRI maintained a territorial organization, run largely by the army, to support public order. This group exercised considerable influence over local decisions regarding such matters as population redistribution, the production of food and strategic materials, and the development of air and sea transportation. Armed forces personnel also continued to engage in large-scale civic action projects involving community and rural development in order to draw closer to the people, to ensure the continued support of the populace, and to develop among military personnel a detailed knowledge of the region to which they were assigned. The largest of these programs, the Armed Forces Enters the Village (AMD) began in 1983 and was to continue indefinitely. It consisted of nationwide civic action campaigns held roughly three times a year to provide assistance in planning and constructing rural and urban projects selected by local villagers.

The Total People's Defence strategy did not apply in some of the major actions Indonesia had engaged in since independence. For example, during the Confrontation with Malaysia from 1963 to 1966, ABRI engaged Malaysian forces in guerrilla warfare without the support of the border peoples of Sarawak and Sabah; in the dispute with the Dutch over West New Guinea in the mid-1960s, ABRI fought against Dutch troops. These conflicts were fought in territory outside the effective jurisdiction of the national government where the Indonesian armed forces lacked the support of the civilian population and where the concept of Total People's Defence could not be implemented. However, because the framers of the 1945 constitution had declared these areas as naturally belonging to Indonesia, national authorities declared that these conflicts were ant colonial wars and in fact represented the completion of the war of independence begun in 1945. Indonesia is unique among developing countries in the relatively low priority given to defence spending. Having fully supported the basic concept of the Suharto regime, namely, that national defence and security depended on the country's economic development, the armed forces endorsed the principle that scarce domestic resources and foreign aid could not be diverted for military use without slowing the progress of national development. Parliamentary mandate in 1978 encouraged the development of a domestic defence industry to lessen Indonesia's dependence on foreign manufacturers and to reduce the use of scarce foreign currency reserves on weaponry. In keeping with these guidelines, domestic capacity to maintain, repair, and produce military equipment was improved. Large naval vessels and fighter aircraft still had to be purchased abroad, but the Indonesian aircraft and shipbuilding industries, detached from the armed forces in the early 1980s, had been upgraded by the early 1990s. They produced helicopters, light aircraft, transport aircraft, landing craft, patrol boats, small arms, and a variety of spare parts for these systems, taking advantage of offset production and other licensing agreements with foreign firms. Defence industries attended to a greater amount of routine as well as local-level maintenance, such as installing new engines in helicopters and combat vehicles that had been retired from service because of a shortage of spare parts. Several electronics firms were established to support defence materiel production. The government continued to seek related-related technology transfer from the United States, Japan, and several European nations. For example, certification of the P.T. PAL shipyard, starting in 1992, to perform certain types of en route repairs for United States Navy warships on a commercial basis brought a new level of sophistication to that facility.

Functionally, the police were organized into a number of specialized elements. The largest of these was the uniformed police, which included both the general police, who performed conventional police duties relating to the control and prevention of crime and protection of property, and the traffic police, who patrolled the nation's roadways and supervised the licensing of drivers and the registration of motor vehicles. Also part of the uniformed force were the women police, who specialized in social matters and the welfare of women and children. Elite units of special police were employed to enforce order in terrorist situations beyond the capability of the regular forces. These units were better armed and more mobile than the general police and lived in separate barracks under more rigid discipline. These police wore the same uniform as other police but were distinguished by special badges. A small unit of Sea and Air Police patrolled the national waters and airspace, providing tactical aid to other elements by regulating traffic, guarding against smuggling and the theft of fish, and supplying transport. The unit was also active in disaster relief. Its equipment included a few helicopters and light airplanes and various small sea craft. Plainclothes police were assigned primary responsibility for criminal investigations, especially in complex cases or in cases involving several jurisdictions. They also handled forensics, intelligence, security, and the technical aspects of crime fighting, such as fingerprinting and identification. One of the oldest National Police units was the Mobile Brigade, formed in late 1945. It was originally assigned the tasks of disarming remnants of the Japanese Imperial Army and protecting the chief of state and the capital city. It fought in the revolution, and its troops took part in the military confrontation with Malaysia in the early 1960s and in the conflict in East Timor in the mid-1970s. In 1981 the Mobile Brigade spawned a new unit called the Explosive Ordnance Devices Unit.

The armed forces' economic role had its beginnings early on in the National Revolution period (1945-49). That role was stepped up in 1957 when military personnel were assigned managerial or advisory positions in Dutch enterprises and agricultural estates nationalized by the government. This involvement in commercial enterprises projected the military, especially the army, into a new sphere of activity through which it acquired entrepreneurial expertise, a vast patronage, and a source of personal enrichment for many. The military's role in national economic life greatly expanded under conditions of a rapidly deteriorating economy during the Sukarno era in the 1960s. Left largely to their own devices to find support, local military units secured their needs by operating business enterprises, levying unofficial "taxes," smuggling, and other methods suggested by their own resourcefulness and available opportunities. Although not the only state institution to engage in commercial enterprise in order to generate extrabudgetary income, the armed forces certainly were the most energetic and successful. Commercial activities under the various territorial commands commonly included the use of military trucks to transport passengers and freight for hire. Military-owned companies operated in the open market, much as any private company. For example, the Dharma Putra Foundation, a holding company connected with the Army Strategic Reserve Command (KOSTRAD), included a film company, an airline, and the Volkswagen assembly franchise.

The armed forces also influenced the economic policies of the Suharto regime through their ties with its most important economic technocrats. Many believe the military-technocrat alliance provided one foundation of the Suharto regime. By the early 1990s, in fact, the so-called "Berkeley Mafia," continuously augmented as successive generations of bright youths sought training in the United States, had directed Indonesia's economy for more than thirty years. In late 1982, the dwifungsi principle was placed on firm legal ground when the old 1954 defence law was replaced with a new one expressly stating that ABRI is both a military and a social force. The new law, unlike its predecessor, confers formal legitimacy on the wide-ranging powers exercised by the armed forces in the name of preserving and strengthening national resilience. The government's sanction of dwifungsi recognized the need for ABRI's continued influence in the basic national infrastructure so that national development would buttress national defence. ABRI's involvement in the national life included the assignment of both active duty and retired military personnel to civil administrative and policy positions. Gradually, as stability came to the economic sector, military personnel withdrew from the economic policy making area, and by 1980 all active duty personnel had left their positions in non defence related economic enterprises, although they remained active in military owned and managed businesses. These businesses were primarily in the sectors of plantation agriculture, timber cultivation and harvest, and transportation. Retired military officers continued to run some nationalized firms and military owned enterprises, although they frequently hired civilian managers. Members of the military are allotted 75 unelected seats in the Parliament (DPR), in partial compensation for not being permitted to vote. The military occupies numerous key positions in the administration and holds an unelected 20 percent of the seats in provincial and district parliaments. The other 85 percent of national and 80 percent of regional parliamentary seats are filled through elections held every 5 years.

The geographic extent of the army KODAM in the early 1990s was as follows: KODAM I, Special Region of Aceh and Sumatera Utara, Sumatera Barat, and Riau provinces; KODAM II, Jambi, Bengkulu, Sumatera Selatan, and Lampung provinces; KODAM III, Jawa Barat Province; KODAM IV, Jawa Tengah Province and the Special Region of Yogyakarta; KODAM V, Jawa Timur Province; KODAM VI, the four provinces of Kalimantan; KODAM VII, the four provinces of Sulawesi; KODAM VIII, Maluku and Irian Jaya provinces; KODAM IX, Bali, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Nusa Tenggara Barat, and Timor Timur provinces; and KODAM Jaya Jakarta, the Special Capital City Region of Jakarta. Approximately two-thirds of the army was engaged in the national defence aspect of the armed forces' dwifungsi mission. Operations were rarely, if ever, conducted in any formation larger than a battalion. Each Korem had control of at least one battalion and one or more battalions came under the direct control of the Kodam. Army doctrine differentiated between tactical battalions, which were found in Kostrad and at least one quick reaction force battalion for each Kodam; and territorial battalions, which made up the majority of the units assigned to the ten Kodams. Each battalion had a strength of nearly 700 men, and personnel programs within a fixed staffing size called for recruitment of sufficient numbers to bring chronically understrength units up to authorized levels. Some of these forces were occasionally assigned for temporary missions to Kostrad or Kopassus.

The army had its own small air arm that performed liaison and limited transport duties. It flew one helicopter squadron and one composite squadron composed mostly of light aircraft and small transports, such as the domestically produced CASA 235. 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. Most of the army personnel not assigned to combat formations were involved in carrying out the social and developmental portions of the armed forces' dwifungsi mission. Many were attached to the Kodams as support elements, performing intelligence and internal security functions, and maintaining liaison with local officials charged with implementing the government's policies. Some military personnel filled civilian government positions from national and province levels down to the district, subdistrict, or village level. A large portion of the army's territorial forces participated in ABRI civic action projects, such as the nationally directed ABRI Masuk Desa program and locally directed programs at the Kodam level, as part of their mission to promote national development. They constructed roads, bridges, and public buildings, provided medical service in remote areas, and worked to improve rural conditions. The military's civic action mission received added attention after 1983 as part of a program designed to address the problems of a perceived growing gap between ABRI and the civilian population.

In 1992 air force strength was about 27,000. Approximately 4,000 of these personnel formed four battalions of "quick action" paratroopers. The structure of the air force consisted of a headquarters staff in Jakarta supporting the chief of staff, two subordinate commands (Air Materiel Command and Air Training Command), and three operational commands (Ko-Op I, Ko-Op II, and the National Air Defence Command). The Air Materiel Command was headquartered in Bandung, Jawa Barat Province, and the Air Training Command was in Surabaya, Jawa Timur Province. Indonesia's air operations were divided into two area commands with Jakarta being the east/west dividing point. The largest of the operational commands was Ko-Op II, headquartered in Ujungpandang, Sulawesi Selatan Province, and responsible for all air force operations east of Jakarta (including Kalimantan). KoOp I, headquartered in Jakarta, covered air force operations west of Jakarta. The National Air Defense Command, also headquartered in Jakarta, had operational control over all fighter and counterinsurgency aircraft.

SKADRON UDARA 1 : OV-10 BRONCO

SKADRON UDARA 2 : F-27 DAN CN-235

SKADRON UDARA 3 : F-16 FIGHTING FALCON

SKADRON UDARA 4 : C-212 DAN CESSNA

SKADRON UDARA 5 : BOEING 737

SKADRON UDARA 6 : TWINPAC

SKADRON UDARA 7 : BELL-47 SIOUX / SOLOY DAN HUGHES 500

SKADRON UDARA 8 : SA-330 PUMA

SKADRON UDARA 11 : A-4 SKY HAWK

SKADRON UDARA 12 : HAWK 100 / 200

SKADRON UDARA 14 : F-5 TIGER II

SKADRON UDARA 15 : HS HAWK MK-53

SKADRON UDARA 17 : BOEING 707, F-28, F-27 DAN SA-330 PUMA

SKADRON UDARA 31 : HERCULES C-130

SKADRON UDARA 32 : HERCULES C-130

The Navy was initially stocked primarily with craft once operated by European or the Australian navies. Beginning in 1959, the navy began to acquire a large number of craft from the Soviet Union and East European nations. In the aftermath of the abortive 1965 coup, however, the navy suffered a decline in influence within the armed forces and the nation because of suspected involvement in the coup attempt (particularly by the marine corps) and because of its small size in comparison with the army. A large portion of its vessels of Soviet or East European origin were quickly rendered non-operational owing to a lack of spare parts and maintenance expertise. During the period of confrontation, the Indonesian naval capability increased in quality and quantity. The fleet was strengthened by acquisitions from Russia including cruisers, destroyers, frigates, fast attack missile craft and submarines. The Marine Corps was also reinforced by armoured and amphibious vehicles, and naval aviation with ASW helicopters and bombers (IL28). In 1970, after the severing of diplomatic ties with Russia, which created problems maintaining the Russian ships, TNI-AL obtained an ex-US Navy destroyer escort, and an ex-RAN fast attack craft (K-16M class) to replace the ex-Russian vessels. Until the late 1970s, the only major replacements were four frigates acquired from the United States Navy in 1974. Since that time, the navy embarked on an upgrading program designed to develop a balanced fleet suited to operations in archipelagic waters. Over the 1978-92 period, it purchased submarines from the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), light frigates from the Netherlands and Britain, and fast attack craft from the Republic of Korea (South Korea). In 1992 the Indonesian government announced plans to acquire thirty-nine used ships of various types from the navy of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The navy produced numerous small coastal craft in national shipyards as well. As of 1992, the fleet was composed of more than sixty ships and numerous smaller vessels.

The national and global situation at the beginning of the 1980s gave new impetus to the development of TNI-AL and the promulgation of the Indonesian EEZ (Economic Exclusive Zone) brought with it new challenges and demands. The small, effective and efficient force was required to develop into a professional, effective and modern navy. In order to conduct its primary role as a naval force, TNI-AL initiated a development and management program, including the maintenance of forces through an integrated fleet weapons system (SSAT). The elements of SSAT are ships, as a basic weapon system, aircraft, the Marine Corps and naval bases. The SSAT is a combination of strategic weapons with logistic support reflecting a strong navy. The navy's mission was to act as a territorial force responsible for the patrol of Indonesia's immense coastline. The vast majority of operational ships were stationed at the main naval base at Surabaya, Jawa Timur Province. Whereas the 1970s saw an increase in the fleet's ship inventory, the 1980s witnessed a major effort to improve the navy's armament posture through the purchase of the Harpoon weapons system and the MK-46 torpedo. The 1990s were expected to be largely a period of consolidation and training. The minimum maritime capability to ensure national security is sea denial. Based on that capability, modernisation was achieved through the procurement of modern, high technology naval ships from a variety of countries, including Holland (Fatahilah class corvettes, ‘ Van Spijk’ frigates, and Tripartite class minehunters), Yugoslavia (destroyer escort training ship KRI Kihajar Dewantara-364; Korea, ‘Patrol Ship Killer—Missiles’ (PSK) and Tacoma class landing ship tank), the United Kingdom (ex-Tribal class) and Germany (209 class submarine). The national shipyard, PT PAL, also produced FPB-57 class patrol boats for TNI-AL.

Structurally, the navy comprised the headquarters staff at Jakarta under the overall command of the navy chief of staff, two fleet commands (the Eastern Fleet in Surabaya, the Western Fleet in Jakarta), the marine corps, a small air arm, and a military sealift command. There were about 44,000 uniformed personnel serving in the navy in 1992, including about 13,000 marines. The marines were organized into two brigades, one in Jakarta and the other in Surabaya, and were equipped with light tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and antiaircraft guns. Some of the marine elements were believed occasionally to be attached to KOSTRAD in operational missions. The 1985 reorganization of the military made significant changes in the former territorial commands of the navy, which were eliminated from the structure altogether, with the service represented on the KODAM staff by a senior liaison officer. The navy territorial commands were replaced by Eastern Fleet and Western Fleet--Armadas. The Navy fleets split the Western Fleet corresponding to KODAMs I through IV and VI and with the Eastern Fleet corresponding to KODAM V and KODAMs VII through IX. The navy has maintained a small air arm since 1958. Headquartered at Surabaya, its personnel numbered some 1,000 in the early 1990s. It was equipped primarily for naval reconnaissance and coastal patrol duties, flying three squadrons of light airplanes, as well as several transports and helicopters. Naval aviation was supplemented with Nomads (N-22) from Australia, Wasp ASW helicopters from the UK, and products of IPTN such as Cassa, Super Puma and BO-105. The Marine Corps also received amphibious vehicles from France. More recently, TNI-AL obtained 39 ex-East German naval ships. In order to enhance the capability of logistic support, maintenance and administration for the unit operation, TNI-AL established five main bases with several subordinate bases, a maintenance facility, and a naval aviation base.

The military sealift command coordinated the navy's logistical support systems. In the early 1990s, naval warships generally were not deployed to a particular region but were grouped in mobile flotillas, to be dispatched where needed. Usually these included eastern, western, and central groups, but activity was most often concentrated in the west in the vicinity of the bases at Belawan in Sumatera Utara Province, Tanjungpinang in Riau Province, near Singapore; and in the east near the base at Manado in Sulawesi Utara Province. This pattern was in keeping with the major missions envisioned for the navy in the 1990s. One mission concerned patrolling the strategic straits through which foreign ships enter and exit the Indian Ocean, particularly the Strait of Malacca. The other mission centered on halting smuggling and illegal fishing, considered to be problems particularly in the areas near the Natuna Islands and in the seas between Kalimantan and Irian Jaya. In support of the second mission, the navy announced plans to construct a number of limited-role bases in isolated areas in the eastern and western sections of the national territory. Patrol activity also increased in connection with the flow of refugees from Southeast Asia, particularly in the area near the Natuna Islands. The naval shipyard P.T. PAL was turned over to the civilian government, but it, along with other facilities in Surabaya, continued to be the navy's primary training, repair, and industrial center. Since P.T. PAL's transfer to civilian control and designation as a state enterprise, it developed and implemented improvements for a management and technical upgrade of the shipyard to support the Indonesian fleet as well as to conduct commercial repairs for foreign navies. Small craft construction facilities were located at shipyards in Jakarta, Manokwari, Irian Jaya Province; Semarang, Jawa Tengah Province; and Ambon, Maluku Province.

RATIH Civilian Militia [Rakyat Terlatih]

KAMRA People's Security Force

WANRA People's Resistance

HANSIP Civil Defence Force

PAM SWAKARSA Voluntary Militia

RATIH is an old idea which was a component of the People's Defence and Security System. In this system, ABRI (the Indonesian Armed Forces) functioned as the main component, and RATIH assisted. RATIH is intended to face both invasions and internal rebellions. KAMRA (People's Security Force) is closely linked to the handling of regional security, while People's Resistance [WANRA] which is also a part of RATIH relates to facing external enemies. They are different from the Civil Defence Force (HANSIP), and should not be equated with the voluntary militia (PAM SWAKARSA).

HANSIP (Pertahanan Sipil – Civilian Defence Organization) is under government control through the village, sub-districts, counties, while RATIH is under the POLRI [Indonesian National Police]. HANSIP are under the Department of Home Affairs rather than ABRI, but ABRI provides NAHSIP's training and supplies units with their weaponry. HANSIP platoons are established in each village, the members of which come from the village community such as farmers, labourers and others. The system of Indonesia's National Defence and Security is based on "total people's defence and security" which means that the Armed Forces and the entire people are equally responsible for maintaining national security and defence. The Civil Defence Organization is responsible for matters concerning security and order and has to assist the people in emergencies, for example, when in the middle of the night an expecting woman needs help, the village HAN-SIP is to call a doctor or midwife. Organically HANSIP is under the supervision of the district head and the governor of the province.

The PAM SWAKARSA voluntary militia does not have a clear position and does not exist within the state's defence and security structure, which has caused much conflict. In November 1998 ABRI recruited some 125,000 civilians to bolster the defence of the special legislative session preparing for the 1999 elections. Many of the volunteers were recruited from groups notorious for violence, and were eventually withdrawn after numerous brawls with demonstrators. Other officially sanctioned vigilante groups in Central Java have lynched and beheaded strangers suspected of criminal activity.

In late 1998 minister of defence and security General Wiranto proposed the formation of a civilian militia (RATIH) to help maintain order in the country. Indonesian Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid endorsed the controversial plan, under the condition that the new militia fall under the control of General Wiranto. However, it did not materialize because it did not receive much support from some segments of the national leadership. The former Chief of Kostrad (Army's Strategic Reserves Command), Lieutenant General (ret.) Kemal Idris, for instance, regarded the establishment of RATIH as an embarrassment to ABRI, particularly the Army. Moslem leader and possible presidential candidate Amien Rais warned that the new formation could lead to abuses from members of the group. R.William Liddle, an observer of the Indonesian political scene at Ohio State University, expressed concern that the establishment of RATIH will only lead to militias "which could easily lose control."

Legal authorization is required to organize Ratih, and at present there is no law that regulates RATIH. Therefore, KAMRA was formed instead. The basis for the establishment of RATIH is the Law No. 20 of 1982 regarding Particulars for Defence and Security, which remained on the books although never implemented. If the term "RATIH" is related to Law No. 20 of 1982, there must automatically be a new authorizing law. But using the term "KAMRA" Presidential Decision No. 55 of 1978 may be used to provide authorization for the force.

Members of the Indonesian military-recruited civilian auxiliary force, the so-called KAMRA security forces, are civilian paramilitaries recruited and trained by the Indonesian army to serve in its, and the police's, auxiliary units. The KAMRA is organized to assist police personnel, which are rather small in number. At present Indonesia has only 200,000 police personnel. Starting in February 1999 the Indonesian Army began training 40,000 unemployed youths as members of a civilian security force (KAMRA). Recruitment began in January 1999, and each member of Kamra trained for at least trained for two weeks at an educational institution of the Indonesian Army in camps at military area base regiments, with a subsequent three to four months of training "on the job." The training was originally to involve 29,000 persons, but the number was later increased to 40,000. The civilians selected to assist the security measures are initially to be armed only with shields, batons, and handcuffs, but are authorized to make arrests and to take information from suspects.

According to General Wiranto, the militia forces are "to be assigned in security disturbance-prone areas."

Militias in East Timor

The recruitment members of the community to serve the interests of the armed forces is an integral part of the Indonesian army's "people's defence" doctrine. The para-military forces in East Timor are under the direct command of ABRI, and are not an independent force of vigilantes outside the command structure as is usually claimed. Pro-autonomy militias had a history dating back to 1975 of supporting the Indonesian invaders against FRETILIN. Violence between pro-Indonesia and pro-independence factions mounted since Jakarta's announcement in January 1999 that it could consider independence for the former Portuguese colony if the people rejected an autonomy package. In early 1999 Major-General Adam Damiri, the commander of the Udayana military command, publicly held a meeting with para-militaries, at which he gave the signal for Operasi Sapu Jagad to start, resulting in many casualties among the population in many parts of East Timor, including the capital Dili. With this act Damiri was in open defiance of Habibie’s decision to give the East Timorese the chance to determine their own political future. Upwards of 1,200 official civilian militia (PAM SWAKARSA) members were installed at a ceremony in the courtyard of the East Timor governor's office on 20 April 1999. East Timor's police chief defended the recruitment of pro-Indonesia militias into a civil security system, although the recruited militias are widely regarded as being responsible for massacres in Liquisa and Dili. Militia commanders Eurica Guetteras and Manuel de Souza of Aitarak and Besi Merah Putih have been recruited along with their militias into Indonesia's civilian security force PAM SWARKASA.

The United Front for East Timor Autonomy is a coalition that includes the pro-Indonesia Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice (FPDK) and militias. Members of the FPDK [Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice], a pro-integration political organization, has used the militias as its armed wing, although the militias have a different chain of command and receive orders from "other people." FPDK members have participated in the militias' swearing of allegiance ceremonies throughout the territory. The FPDK president, Domingos Soares, is a Dili council administrator. Other pro-integration leaders include Basilio Dias Araujo, and Hermenio da Silva, the Pro-integration Forces (PPI) Chief of Staff. Eurico Guterres, the commander of the Aitarak [Thorn] militia who wear distinctive black headbands with the word Aitarak inscribed on them, waged a campaign of terror over the summer of 1999 with the avowed aim of partititioning East Timor. Ilidio Dos Santos leads a 3,000-member strong pro-integration civilian militia group in the Maubara district that includes Liquisa, 60 kilometers west of the East Timor capital Dili. He calls his group "Besi Merah Putih" (Red and White Iron), named after the colour of the Indonesian flag. Besi Merah Putih militia accompanied by and directed by TNI (Indonesian army) soldiers carried out a variety of operations. The Besi Merah Putih have been blamed by witnesses for the bloody attack on a Liquisa church in which up to 52 people may have been killed. Joao da Silva Tavares, commander of the 9,000-member Integration Fighters Force, concentrated his force and personnel in Bobonaro District, which borders on Atambua District of East Nusa Tenggara Province. United Front for East Timor [UNIF] forces are mainly scattered at the western sector which stretches from Maliana, Ermera, Suai, and Ambeno to Dili. East Timor Integration Fighters Force [PPI] members from Baucau-based Sector A have four areas of control, namely the Saka and Sera Force in Baucau, Alfa Force in Lospalos, Makikit Force in Viqueque, and Red and White Force in Manatuto. The Dili-based Sector B consists of Aitarak Force in Dili, Red and White Iron Force in Liquica, and the Integration Blood Force in Ermera.