Indonesian Marine Corps

The Indonesian Marine Corps (Indonesian: Korps Marinir, KorMar) is the Indonesian Navy's ground troops. It was created on 15 November 1945, and is the country's main amphibious warfare force and quick reaction force against enemy invasion.

History

Kormar has been active in various military operations in Indonesia. One of the largest amphibious military operations would have been Operation Jayawijaya in which thousands of marines were planned to land on Biak in 1963 as a part of the Trikora Campaign to take West Irian from Dutch control. The operation was aborted as a consequence deals preceding the New York Agreement.

In 1999 a plan was proposed to expand the Kormar from its strength of 13,000 troops. Based on this plan, every Kormar's base would have three combat brigades: the Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery and would be supported by one Combat Support Regiment and one Administration Support Regiment. The expansion will create three Kormar bases: Surabaya for Eastern area command, Jakarta for Central area command, and Rate Island in Lampung for Western area command. Now the Indonesian Marine Corps has an estimated 29,000 troops in two Marine Forces (PASMARs) and one independent infantry marine regiment, when combined equal to one over-strength infantry division, which includes its own sizeable mechanised amphibious and artillery units.