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fter holding separate training for almost 15 years, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police wrapped up a joint basic training and education program, which many expect to help create bonds between personnel from the two institutions.

Around 800 cadets from the TNI and police participated in a joint training session held at the Candradimuka Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java that began on Aug. 4 through which they received training on basic knowledge, lessons in behavior and physical exercise.

'€œThe joint education program focused on unity, teamwork, solidarity and togetherness, with the goal of creating harmony between the TNI and the police,'€ TNI chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said in his speech to close the joint session in Magelang on Tuesday.

Gatot said that once they returned to their respective institutions, the cadets must continue communicating with each other.

National Police chief Gen. Badroddin Haiti, who was also present during the closing ceremony, said that the cadets should maintain the bonds created during the joint training session.

'€œYou should leave bad behavior behind because it will not only harm yourselves but also to your institutions and families,'€ Badroddin said.

Personnel from the TNI and Police have often engaged in clashes, prompting many to assume that the two institutions are engaged in a rivalry.

Among one of the most serious incidents was a clash in Batam in November 2014 that involved a dozen soldiers from an Army infantry unit rampaging through the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters.

One soldier died in the incident, while a street vendor was injured.

The attack followed a clash between Brimob personnel and soldiers following an attempted police raid on a suspected illegal fuel-storage facility in Batam in September 2014. Four soldiers sustained gunshot wounds in the incident.

Both the military and police launched separate probes into the incident.

The TNI imposed disciplinary sanctions by reassigning 100 soldiers involved in the Batam clash to the eastern part of Indonesia.

Media reports have framed the clashes as a conflict at the grass-roots level over disputed shares of extra income triggered by illegal security protection services the two forces have offered.

The latest incident occurred in September this year, when a TNI member identified as Second Pvt. Yuliadi was shot dead, allegedly by a police officer, during a brawl that erupted at a motorbike racing circuit in Pekkabata subdistrict, Polewali city, Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi.

Leadership of the two institutions agreed in February to involve their personnel in a joint training program, which had been a practice under the New Order authoritarian regime.

Under the order of then president Soeharto, the military academy was responsible for training and educating military and police cadets.

Under the joint training program, cadets from the police and military undertook four months of joint training before attending separate classes.

Executive director of the Institute for Defense and Security Studies (IDSS) Mufti Makarim told The Jakarta Post that the joint training could not be a permanent solution to ease tensions between the two institutions.

'€œPolice and TNI have different characteristics. It is strange if they have joint training,'€ he said, adding TNI personnel were prepared for war, while members of the police force handled domestic security.

Instead of holding a joint training session, which was only ceremonial in nature, Mufti suggested that leaders from the two institutions discuss a concrete solution to the grass-root problems.

'€œThe clashes between TNI and police personnel are due to the culture of impunity,'€ he said.

As long as TNI and the police did not hand down severe punishment for their personnel involved in illegal practices, clashes would continue in the future.