Numerous analysts buy the assumption, even the United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. In his speech in Jakarta last July, Gates argued that Indonesia’s military had marked a good record. With its sustainable professionalization and diminution of human rights violations as compared to the past, the US eventually offered Indonesia a new stage for bilateral military cooperation.

However, despite this achievement, numerous items on the reform agenda have not yet been achieved.

The strategy to improve TNI’s professionalism is worth preparation as the challenge for TNI not only emerges from the domestic, but also the international environment.

Potential external threats in the future is one area worth being examined. This is supported by clear evidence that the TNI’s posture is far behind the posture of the militaries of other countries, at least compared to our closest neighbors in the region.

While Indonesia has set 2029 as its deadline for military reform, this goal should be achieved with clear ends, proper ways and strategic means. In each step toward the target of reform there should also be evaluation, since this will help keep the military on track and stepping back to square one.

Focus, capability and responsibility are the key terms for improving TNI reforms. The agenda should focus on two main aspects: Developing military capability while also developing responsibility of military actions.

In setting the agenda focus, military reforms should strike a balance between the military’s ideal position and its role in achieving national interests and confronting national threat perception.


“If you would like the wagon to run fast, you need a sophisticated locomotive, not an old or broken one.”

The TNI should be able to differentiate between its main roles and those of its assignments that are considered auxiliary tasks.

This is important because different roles will bear different consequences for who is in control and who is in command.

In this context, it is also important to calculate the potential threat faced by the population in
the future. The Indonesian population has reached more than 230 million. In 2029, it may reach more than 300 million.

In addition, security challenges are increasingly complex and of a global nature. Thus, the TNI’s posture projection must consider the expected population that should be protected in the future.

Indonesia’s poor defense posture (alutsista) also deserves much attention. Its posture should be replaced with a more sophisticated military transformation that will enable the TNI to perform its striking, patrolling and supporting forces.

Military reforms should also focus on setting the right national security coordination. This could reduce the overlapping national security coordination among the TNI, the National Police (Polri), Intelligence, and even with civilians.

The future of a professional TNI is not just a dream. It can be pursued by meeting at least three major
conditions.

First, civil-military relations are not fragile as they should allow smooth relations between them. There should be no violence committed by TNI or police officers toward civilians.

Second, there must be no fragmentation inside the TNI. If this occurs, it could totally turn down the whole spirit and idea of military transformation.

Third, and the most importantly, is that the material transformation that should come simultaneously with the ideational transformation. This refers to the idea that military reforms should not only be in the minds of the military, but also be captured by civilians.

If this can happen, both civilians and the military will comprehend that the essence of national defense is in the hands of all citizens. It is the citizens’ right and obligation, not necessarily just the TNI’s.

Military reform is a direct consequence of democratization. To avoid inharmonious civil-military relations, disciplined enforcement among TNI (and Polri) should also be elevated to maintain public integrity toward TNI (and Polri).

Heading toward the goal of reforming the Indonesian military is somewhat like walking along a railway track toward an end.

The locomotive and its wagons should go together along the track to reach their final destination. They can achieve their goals if they go together as an entity.

Therefore, the development of national security capability does not necessarily rely on the capability of military or defense officers per se, but also with the active involvement of oversight from the House of Representatives and civilians, including the press.

Above all, the speed of progress of military reforms can also be determined by the type of locomotive technology. If you would like the wagon to run fast, you need a sophisticated locomotive, not an old or broken one.

With massive and invaluable natural and human resources to defend this country, the TNI should equip itself with sophisticated military equipments. The minimum defense budget and the backwardness of its military technology must no longer be an issue in preparing the future of a professional TNI.

The question lingering on TNI’s anniversary today is: How TNI emanates from this issue?


The writer, a PhD student at the School of Political Science, Northern Illinois University, is a lecturer at the School of International Relations, Paramadina University, Jakarta.

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