Indonesia's Elite Forces "KOPASSUS"

The Special Forces Command (KOPASSUS), formerly called the Sandi Yudha Forces Command and KOPASSANDHA (which also means Special Forces Command), are trained in intelligence gathering, a variety of special operations techniques, sabotage, and airborne and seaborne landings. Founded on 16 April 1952, KOPASSUS was reorganized and reduced in size in 1985, and by 1992 KOPASSUS forces numbered some 2,500 army personnel identifiable by their distinctive red berets organized into two operational groups and one training group. 

By the late 1990s KOPASSUS numbered some 6,000-strong, an increase in the number of troops, but below that of 1985. Headquarters at Cijantung, East Jakarta, KOPASSUS had expanded to five Groups, with Group IV specifically handling intelligence operations along with the KOPASSUS Joint Intelligence Unit [SGI]. 

Circa year 2001, Kopassus reorganizes its personnels into some 5,000-strong forces. The new organization is as follows: 
Group 1 Para Commando (Taktakan, Serang, Banten) with 3 batallions 
Group 2 Para Commando (Kandang Menjangan, Kartasura, Solo) with 3 batallions 
Group 3 Intelligence (Cijantung, Jakarta) 
(1) Para Commando batallions (independent) (Semplak, Bogor) 
(1) HQ Detachment (Cijantung, Jakarta) 
(1) Unit-81 Anti-Terrorists (Cijantung, Jakarta) 
Pusdikpassus / Special Forces Training Center (Batujajar, Bandung)


KOPASSUS is considered to be an elite force that has traditionally emphasized its small size and its quick-strike potential. It has been involved in numerous military actions in response to internal Indonesian unrest. KOPASSUS units were involved in 1981 in freeing the hostages from the "Woyla," the Garuda Airline plane hijacked by followers of Imran, leader of an Islamic splinter movement in West Java. KOPASSUS members climbed Mount Everest in 1997.