Alexander Evert Kawilarang (23 February 1920 – 6 June 2000) was an Indonesian military officer and rebel leader. He was the founder of Kesko TT, the precursor of the Indonesian Army special forces unit Kopassus. In 1958, he resigned his post as military attaché to the United States to defect to the rebel Permesta movement after the Incidents in Manado, where he encountered his own unit as his opponent. His involvement in Permesta damaged his military career, but he remained a popular figure as well as was active in the armed forces community.
Early life
Kawilarang was born in Batavia (now known as Jakarta) on 23 February 1920.Simatupang (1972), p. 126. His father, Alexander Herman Hermanus Kawilarang, was a major in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL or Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger).Matanasi (2011), p. 46. His mother was Nelly Betsy Mogot.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 13. Both parents were from the Minahasa region in North Sulawesi.
Kawilarang enjoyed European-style education that included attending the Dutch secondary school (HBS or Hogere burgerschool) in Bandung.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 14. Around 1940, he attended the Dutch military academy or Koninklijke Militaire Academie that was moved to Bandung, because of the German occupation of the Netherlands. His classmates included A. H. Nasution and T. B. Simatupang.Anderson (1972), p. 234. After graduating from the academy, he was stationed in Magelang as a platoon commander and assigned back to Bandung as an instructor.Ramadhan KH (1988), pp. 16, 17.
During the Japanese occupation, Manadonese (Minahasan), Ambonese, and Indo people were often arbitrarily arrested during raids due to their perceived closeness to the Dutch. Many were severely tortured by the Kempeitai. Kawilarang was tortured several times by the Japanese in 1943 and 1944. He survived but suffered lifelong disability in his right arm and numerous scars.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 25. Kawilarang recalls: "Someone in the warung [food stall] said: 'Japan will grant the Indonesian people its freedom.' I could not ascribe any sense at all to such small talk. Impossible! That was my opinion. But I remained silent. I didn't feel much for more torture ... A newspaper wrote: 'Japan is an old friend.' Lies! I thought.Kawilarang (1994), p. 23. Kawilarang slowly developed an appreciation for the rhetoric of the charismatic Indonesian nationalist Sukarno and became strongly convinced that the time for an independent Indonesian state had arrived.
In 1944, Kawilarang's father was presumed killed while he was a POW on the Japanese cargo ship Junyo Maru (see his father's Japanese detention card on the Dutch National Archives website). The ship was carrying 3,000 Menadonese, Ambonese, Indo-European, Dutch, British, Australian, and American POWs, and over 3,500 Javanese Romusha when it was sunk by the British submarine HMS Tradewind. Kawilarang recalls being told about the tragedy: "I prayed in silence. I did not cry. The Japanese had given me enough practice in digesting pain and suffering in silence."Kawilarang (1994), p. 28
For the remainder of the war, Kawilarang worked in several private companies in Sumatra, the last of which was as chief of a rubber factory in Tanjung Karang (now Bandar Lampung) in South Sumatra.Simatupang (1972), p. 126.Anderson (1972), p. 425.
Indonesian National Revolution
After the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, Kawilarang returned to Jakarta and enlisted in the newly formed Indonesian army. In October 1945, he was assigned to the staff of the First Command of West Java or Komandemen I Jawa Barat in Purwakarta and given the rank of major.Anwar (2004), p. 253. In January 1946, he became Chief of Staff of the Bogor Infantry Regiment of the Second Division.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 61. In August 1946, he became the commander of the Second Brigade ("Surya Kencana") of the newly formed Siliwangi Division and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 93.Gayantari (2007), p. 30. He was in command of the brigade during Operation Product, a Dutch offensive against Indonesian forces. He also commanded the First Brigade for a brief period when the brigade was transferred to Yogyakarta.Simatupang (1972), p. 126.
In mid-1948, Kawilarang was included in a contingent of government and military officials to Bukittinggi in West Sumatra. The move was in anticipation of a second Dutch offensive and to allow the formation of an Indonesian emergency government outside of Java. Kawilarang was assigned to lead the Seventh Sub-Territorial Command (or Komando Sub-Teritorial VII) for Tapanuli and the southern region of East Sumatra. One of his tasks was to stop the infighting between factions of the army in the area.Abin (2016), pp. 149, 150. When the Indonesian government-in-exile was enacted after the second Dutch offensive began, Kawilarang was appointed as Deputy Military Governor of the region in Sumatra with Ferdinand Lumban Tobing appointed as Military Governor.Simatupang (1972), p. 238.Suprayitno (2011), p. 96.
In December 1949, Kawilarang was appointed as Territorial Commander of North Sumatra (or Komando Teritorium/Sumatra Utara, now Kodam I/Bukit Barisan) in anticipation of the Dutch recognition of Indonesian sovereignty after the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 176. During his career, Kawilarang was territorial commander of two other important military districts: Military Territory VII / East Indonesia ( Tentara dan Teritorium (TT) VII/Indonesia Timur, now Kodam XIV/Hasanuddin) in April 1950 and Military Territory III / West Java (Tentara dan Teritorium (TT) III/Jawa Barat, now Kodam III/Siliwangi) in November 1951.Indonesia (April 1983), pp. 114, 118
Expeditionary force to East Indonesia
Having just turned 30 and promoted to colonel, Kawilarang was given command of the first post-independence expeditionary force in April 1950.Conboy (2003), p. 8. He was ordered to quell a revolt by a company of former KNIL that included Andi Aziz and Dutch army soldiers or Koninklijke Leger in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The expeditionary force consisted of several brigades, including those that were led by Suharto (the future second president of Indonesia) and Joop Warouw.van Dijk (1981), p. 165. On 8 August 1950, fighting ceased after negotiations between Kawilarang and Dutch General Scheffelaar.Royal Institute of International Affairs (1950), p. 538. Regarding Kawilarang's relationship with Suharto during the expedition, Kawilarang was said to have struck Suharto due to a military blunder by troops under Suharto's command. In at least one interview, with Kawilarang, he denied striking Suharto, but did state that he had to admonish him.Jenkins (1984), p. 200.
Around the same time of the military operation in Makassar, Kawilarang also organized forces against the separatist RMS movement in the Moluccas. The fighting was more ferocious, because the opposition were well-trained Moluccan former KNIL soldiers including the Green Caps.Conboy (2003), pp. 6, 9. Although better trained and renowned for their fighting skills, the resistance of the Moluccan soldiers was eventually put down in November 1950. Let. Col. Slamet Riyadi who was the commander of the government forces in the Maluku sector and an important participant during the offensive was killed on the final day of the campaign.Conboy (2003), p. 10.
Kopassus
The military engagements in Maluku prompted Kawilarang to establish what would later become Indonesia's special forces, Kopassus.Conboy (2003), p. 16. Some acknowledge that the idea of a specialized commando unit was the brainchild of both Kawilarang and Riyadi.TEMPO (2002), p. 20.Sebastian (2006), p. 172. On 15 April 1952, Kawilarang founded the Third Territorial Army Commando Unit or Kesatuan Komando Tentara Territorium III (Kesko TT) when he was territorial commander of Military Territory III in Bandung.Kingsbury (2003), p. 94. He asked Moch. Idjon Djanbi, a former KNIL commando, to train the unit.Conboy (2003), p. 19. In 1999, a year before his death, Kawilarang became an honorary member of Kopassus and received a red beret during a ceremony commemorating the 47th anniversary of the establishment of Kopassus.Kompas (8 June 2000).
Military attaché to the US
In August 1956, Maj. Gen. Nasution as Chief of Staff of the Army appointed Kawilarang to the post of Military Attaché to the United States.Vey (April 1971), p. 161. It has been argued that the purpose of the appointment was to remove Kawilarang from the influential post of commander of Military Territory III / West Java and replace him with an officer who was less of a threat or even pro-Nasution.Vey (April 1971), p. 161.Kahin (1995), p. 51.Hill (2010), pp. 47, 49. A similar move by Nasution was to replace commander of the East Indonesia Military Territory from Joop Warouw to Ventje Sumual.Vey (April 1971), p. 160.Morrison (1999), p. 9. Just a day before the transfer ceremony, Kawilarang ordered the arrest of the Foreign Minister Ruslan Abdulgani due to his alleged corrupt activities.van der Kroef (April 1957), p. 49. This move was backed by Zulkifli Lubis, an opponent of Nasution.Hill (2010), p. 47. Nasution rescinded Kawilarang's order and Abdulgani was released.Vey (April 1971), p. 162. Regarding the appointment to Washington, Kawilarang himself stated that the position was offered by Nasution, because Kawilarang had wanted to obtain more military knowledge outside the country.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 285.
Permesta
Because of continued grievances toward the central government in Java due to the lack of regional autonomy and economic development, on 2 March 1957, Ventje Sumual declared the Universal Struggle Charter or Piagam Perjuangan Semesta (Permesta).Harvey (2009), p. 15. The movement was centered on Manado and Minahasa in North Sulawesi where Kawilarang was from. The movement allied itself with a separate movement based in Sumatra, the "Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia" or Pemerintah Revolusioner Republik Indonesia (PRRI). Kawilarang had been monitoring the situation from Washington and had concluded that the central government in Java and its mismanagement was to blame for the regional crisis.Harvey (2009), p. 103 In March 1958, he informed the Indonesian ambassador to the US, Murkoto, that he would be leaving for North Sulawesi.Ramadhan KH (1988), p. 292. He left his post on 22 March 1958.van der Kroef (May 1958), p. 77.
Kawilarang was the only army officer who was not immediately dishonorably discharged for their participation in Permesta and PRRI.Lev (1966), pp. 54-55. He had not fully accepted the PRRI side of the movement that he thought was aligned to religious extremists, and Jakarta had thus hoped that he would change his mind.Conboy (2003), pp. 50-51.Harvey (2009), p. 123 Although he declined the position of Commander-in-chief of all PRRI-Permesta forces, he remained with Permesta and became Commander of the Permesta armed forces.Asnan et al. (2006), p. 140.Johnson (2015), p. 206.