Made Supriatma – A plan to expand the Indonesian Army's domestic reach suggests the potential reassertion of "dual function" under its new president. That this is aimed at rolling out free meals – for now – is insufficient consolation to those who fear the return of the military into Indonesia's politics.
The Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) is quietly undergoing a significant transformation, marked by a notable expansion of its territorial organisation. This encompasses structural and operational changes and has sparked concerns about the possible resurgence of "dual function" (dwifungsi) – a doctrine that positioned the military as a dominant force in both defence and civilian governance.
At the transformation's core are two key initiatives. First, the Army plans to establish 22 new Regional Military Commands (Kodam), a big jump from the current 15 (to 37). By 2025, five such new Kodams are expected to be operational. The eventual goal is that almost every province will have its own army command. Second, the Army aims to form 100 territorial development battalions by 2025 and deploy these units in every district across the country within five years.
Below the Kodam level, after a sub-regional command (Korem) is formed, a military district command (Kodim) usually follows. Kodims function as the Army's territorial unit at the district level. The establishment of new Kodams can thus greatly increase the military presence in a region, as Kodams typically oversee two to three Korems, with multiple infantry battalions and specialised units like engineers, cavalry and field artillery.
While the official justification cites the need for enhanced national defence and territorial management, critics question whether this expansion is a reassertion of the Army's influence in civilian matters. Is the TNI-AD strengthening national security infrastructure, or is this a possible return to a dual function that blurs the line between military and civilian roles under a president who is, after all, a four-star general?
The plan is that in 2025, five new Kodams will be established (Figure 1), but this may yet change.
Figure 1. Planned New Regional Military Commands in 2025
Sumatra
Current command
Korem 043/Garuda Hitam in Kodam II/Sriwijaya
Korem 031/Wira Bima in Kodam I/Bukit Barisan
Proposed command
Kodam XX (Lampung and Bengkulu)
Kodam XIX (Riau and the Riau Islands)
Central and South Kalimantan
Current command
Korem 102/Panju Panjung in Palangka Raya
Korem 101/Antasari (Banjarmasin)
Proposed command
Reinstated as Kodam XXI/Tambun Bungai (Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan)
Central Sulawesi
Current command
Korem 132/Tadulako in Kodam XIII/Merdeka
Proposed command
Kodam XXII/Tadulako (Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi)
South Papua
Current command
Korem 174/Anim Ti Waninggap (Merauke)
Proposed command
Kodam XXIII (South Papua)
– Author's chart, compiled from various sources
The fifth planned Kodam for 2025 is a priority for Prabowo's administration, as South Papua hosts 2.6 million hectares of food estates. These will be central to the president's signature policies on food security (especially his "free nutritious meals" programme) and energy security (including palm oil and other plantations for biofuels).
Thus far, three combat battalions, comprising 2,100 personnel, have been established and deployed to Merauke, South Papua. They augment five new units designated for the Papua region; the remaining two battalions will be stationed in West Papua and Southwest Papua.
This expansion goes beyond establishing new territorial commands. At a working meeting with the House of Representatives on 24 November 2024, Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin announced plans to form 100 Territorial Development Battalions. These are intended to embody what Kompas newspaper has termed "soft power". Each will be a combat unit equipped with expertise in agricultural development. That is, in addition to combat capabilities, they will have specialised units dealing with livestock, fisheries, agriculture, and even health services. They are supposedly designed to support local development in every district. Recruitment has begun across various Kodams, and various Kodims are preparing to accommodate them.
In each district, these battalions will be accompanied by two Reserve Component (Komcad) Battalions. Membership in Komcad is voluntary, with individuals granted military ranks only during training or mobilisation. Activation of Komcad requires presidential approval (with the support of the legislature) and is reserved for emergencies or wartime. Initially, Komcad recruitment targeted civil servants and state-owned enterprise employees, who received basic military training along with allowances and health insurance during training and reserve periods. In 2021, then Defence Minister Prabowo had announced plans to recruit 25,000 personnel. Despite these efforts, Indonesia has just 9,719 Reserve Component personnel at present. It is not clear, then, whether Komcad can rustle up enough manpower to support the new battalions.
Figure 2. Indonesia's Reserve Component (Komcad) Recruitment (2021-2024)
Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
Recruits | 3,103 | 2,974 | 2,497 | 1,145 | 9,719 |
– Author's chart, compiled from various sources
Recent developments suggest that Komcad is considering recruiting graduates of the Indonesian Development Drivers Programme (Sarjana Penggerak Pembangunan Indonesia, SPPI), managed by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). A total of 30,000 individuals are expected to be recruited through SPPI. Notably, BGN oversees the flagship initiative rolled out by the Prabowo administration earlier this month: the free nutritious meals programme.
Komcad will also recruit transmigrants – the recently reinstated Transmigration Department (dissolved following the fall of the New Order in 1998) will apparently launch a "patriot transmigration" programme to provide basic military training to transmigrant recruits.
Such a large-scale expansion of regular TNI-AD and the reserve component faces significant logistical hurdles and will impose a heavy financial burden on the state. Concurrently, the government's prioritisation of modernising Indonesia's military arsenal makes large-scale personnel expansion impractical.
More worryingly, this expansion has strategic and political implications for Indonesia's decentralised polity. An increase in Kodams will lead to Kodim numbers to surge. Currently staffed by approximately 40 personnel each, Kodim units with augmented battalion-size combat capabilities will bolster the Army's political influence at the district level.
In peacetime, Kodim and subordinate units do not have a combat function but operate as territorial units designed to monitor perceived threats within society. In TNI's territorial doctrine, Kodims and their subordinate units are envisioned as community mobilisers (in times of war). Embedding battalions within Kodim effectively strengthens the Army's local presence.
Overall, this expansion appears to be an effort to enhance the Army's political presence at the local level. If this analysis holds true, the TNI-AD under President Prabowo is slowly but surely, and methodically, reasserting its dual function.
[Made Supriatma is a Visiting Fellow in the Indonesia Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. Made's research focus is on Indonesian politics, civil-military relations, and ethnic/identity politics and he is also a freelance journalist.]
Source: https://fulcrum.sg/expansion-of-the-indonesian-army-a-creeping-dual-function