Pathfinder Visits the Komando Pasukan Khusus

Army Jump Team in Indonesia

April 2012

(Persatuan Terjun Payung Angkatan Darat)

MP.

With the Kopassus Jump temp on the second sortie of that April day. The

chopper is actually an updated version of the MI-17.

Canadian Cariboo.

As the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Kopassus unit is to be

celebrated the team will be flying the color of Kopassus after aircraft exit.

Chopper inspection.

Another chopper at the airfield.

Police (foreground) and Army elements following prior to a jump.

Elements of the KOSTRAD (Special Operations) jump team.

A beautiful scenery of the Indonesian countryside.

Drop Zone.

at the ramp

Ready to go….

Our on board personnel.

View from the ramp.

Head down….

Another head down …

Free Fall ..

Free Fall….

Back exit ….

Post jump briefing at the airfield with the aircrafts on the backdrop.

Air Rescue Personnel.

DZ Emergency team, notice the top of the vehicle with everything one needs

to rescue on a DZ, ropes, cutters, electric saws, ladders, compressor..etc…

with the DZ rescue team.

DZ Emergency personnel.

On the ground preparing for the banner.

Half an hour later the banner deployed over the skies of Indonesia (Depicting

the Army Free Fall patch). On the small photos you can see the pre

deployment phases the banner is wrapped around one of the jumper’s arm.

KOPASSUS

Kopassus, abbreviation for Komando Pasukan Khusus (Army Special Force

Command) is an Indonesian Army Special Forces group that conducts special

operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action,

unconventional warfare, sabotage, counter-terrorism and intelligence

gathering. Kopassus was founded on April 16, 1952.

Landing.

Kopassus jumper.

With some of the senior officers of the Kopassus jump team.

With my friend Col. A.W.

One of the former champions today instructing the new generation of

jumpers.

Satian 81 Gultor

To anticipate the increase in potential airplane hijacking cases in the 70s and 80s, the head of Indonesian Army Strategic Intelligence Office (BAIS) formed a new detachment in the Army Special Forces (then Kopassandha). On June 30, 1982, the new unit, called Detasemen 81 (Den-81) Kopassandha, was formally established with Major Luhut B. Panjaitan as its first commander and Captain Prabowo Subianto as its first vice commander. Both of these officers had been sent to Germans GSG-9 (Grenzschutzgruppe-9) school to learn about the anti-terror techniques. These two officers then selected and trained the Den-81 troops.

The desire to form Den-81 was mostly motivated by the hijacking incident of Garudas DC-9 Woyla in Don Muang Airport, Bangkok-Thailand, on March 31, 1981. The troops that involved in the operation to free Woyla became the first troops in Den-81. Later, Den-81 was changed into Unit-81 Anti-Terror (Sat-81 Gultor). From 1995-2001, Den-81 became the Group 5 Antiterror (Groups 4 Sandhi Yudha) in the Kopassus (new name for Army Special Forces) structure.

Sat-81 Gultor is under the direct command of Kopassus commander in chief. Currently, this unit is led by a colonel. The recruitment process of this unit starts when the troops finish the Para and Commando programes in Batujajar, West Java. From here, they will be assigned to Group 1 and Group 2 of Kopassus for orientation or gaining combat experience. After returning from these assignments, these troops will be evaluated for further assignment to the

Anti-terror unit. The Anti-terror program is conducted in Special Combat Training School in Batujajar, West Java.

The Collector Corner

KOPASSUS Officer Cap Badge.

The TNI (Tentara Indonesia) official camouflage, while this is used across all

branches of the army, the KOPASSUS has a special camouflage called “Blood

Flow” (Dara Mangalir in Bahasa Indonesia).

KOPASSUS banner.

The Kopassus PX shop was a trove of collectible items, do see a sample below.

The Indonesian Army Elite Units has a wide variation of wings and badges

depicting diverse skills.

Note the close similarity between the Cambodian and Indonesian

Commando badges. , the camouflage in the background is the KOPASSUS

“DARA MANGALIR”.

Para Army basic – Army Pathfinder – Commando – Free

Fall – Police (US shape).

GULTOR Elite Force.

Acknowledgment:

Thanks to the officers and soldiers of the KOPASSUS Army Jump Team for

their welcome and assistance as well to the Indonesian Army Air Force and

for being hard to beat guests.

Courtesy Maamar FERKOUN – Pathfinder Group.