C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000268
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP, PM, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANZ
NSC FOR E.PHU
SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/AP P.IPSEN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2018
TAGS: PREL, MARR, MASS, PGOV, ID
SUBJECT: DEFENSE COOPERATION -- A ROBUST AGENDA FOR FY-2009
Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d).
1. (C) SUMMARY: USPACOM and the Indonesian military (TNI)
agreed to an agenda of bilateral mil-mil activities for
FY2009 at their annual discussions held in Jakarta on
February 5-6. The event included U.S. presentations on the
Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), and GOI
presentations on peacekeeping and its preparations for the
upcoming Chiefs of Defense Conference. The agreed FY2009
agenda is the most robust so far in terms of its long-term
planning perspective and the high degree of integration
among events. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) The eighth annual United States-Indonesia
Bilateral Defense Discussions (USIBDD) were held in Jakarta
on February 5-6, 2008. Discussions were led by MG Thomas
Conant, Director for Strategic Planning and Policy, J5,
U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), and by MG Zamroni,
Assistant to the Chief of General Staff for Operations of
the Indonesian military (TNI).
3. (SBU) The two delegations reviewed the activities
planned for FY2008, and previewed those proposed for FY2009
and FY2010. The activities were reviewed in working groups
on intelligence communication, logistics, high-level
visitors, education/special projects and training/
exercises. USDEL proposed the creation of a working group
on leadership development. A total of 119 events were
approved for FY2009. A USIBDD Mid-Year Planning Conference
(MPC) was tentatively scheduled for July 21-24 in Jakarta.
PRESENTATIONS ON GPOI, PEACEKEEPING, DISASTER RELIEF, CHOD
CONFERENCE
4. (SBU) USDEL made presentations on GPOI and HADR
(humanitarian assistance and disaster relief), while the
TNI gave presentations on its preparations for the CHOD
conference and Indonesia's participation in peacekeeping
operations. So far, 32 countries had signed up to
participate in the CHOD conference, the TNI reported, which
would be held February 19-20 at TNI Headquarters in
Jakarta. Conant confirmed that PACOM Commander Admiral
Keating would attend the CHOD conference. The TNI reported
that Indonesia had contributed 15,359 peacekeeping troops,
police and observers to 25 separate missions since the
start of Indonesia's UN membership in 1950. Indonesia
would contribute over 1000 peacekeepers in 2008.
Indonesia's peacekeeping center, established by a decree of
the TNI Chief of Staff (Panglima) on January 29, 2007, and
currently located at TNI headquarters, was conducting
training, providing administrative support to Indonesian
peacekeeping missions and constructing the formal training
area.
TNI WELCOMES PROFESSIONALIZATION
5. (SBU) In opening and closing remarks, MG Zamroni said
much progress had been made in bilateral military-to-
military cooperation since the resumption of the annual
discussions in 2004. He welcomed the current agenda of
cooperation, particularly on peacekeeping and
counterterrorism, as contributing greatly to the TNI's
capabilities. The BDD held in August 2006, the first since
the lifting of U.S. legislative restrictions on defense
cooperation with Indonesia, had been a milestone in the
bilateral relationship. Indonesia hoped to continue
deepening and broadening U.S.-Indonesia mil-mil cooperation
in the future as a means of advancing the
professionalization of Indonesia's defense forces. The BDD
and the Indonesia-United States Security Dialogue (IUSSD)
on policy were critical to that process.
U.S. PRIORITIES
6. (SBU) MG Conant emphasized the importance of developing
long-range training plans which would advance the policy
objectives of both countries. As an annual feature of
U.S.-Indonesian cooperation, the Bilateral Defense
Discussions was increasingly capable of achieving this
objective. Conant reviewed the elements of the U.S.
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agenda.
-- Leadership Development: PACOM welcomed the Indonesian
Army's request for assistance in developing a program of
leadership development. Leadership by enlisted elements
added significant capacity to U.S. military forces. PACOM
recommended such a program for Indonesia and would assist
in the development of a program tailored to the TNI's
needs.
-- Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR):
PACOM was helping the TNI to develop a comprehensive
program, to be held in 2012, as a way to exercise
Indonesia's operating procedures for government, military
and civil-society response to natural disasters.
-- PKO Training: The United States appreciated Indonesia's
participation in the UN peacekeeping operations in Lebanon
(UNIFIL) and looked forward to the establishment of an
Indonesian peacekeeping training center. GARUDA SHIELD,
which had been selected as the GPOI Capstone Exercise in
2009, would help to develop Indonesia's peacekeeping
capabilities further.
-- Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA): This
agreement, currently being reviewed by the government of
Indonesia, would facilitate the transfer of military
equipment and promote interoperability between the two
countries.
-- Maritime Security Assistance (Section 1206): PACOM
appreciated the work of Navy Chief Admiral Sumardjono in
obtaining TNI approval for funding under Section 1206 of
the NDAA for emplacement of maritime surveillance systems
in the Malacca Strait and Sulawesi Sea.
-- KOPASSUS Training: PACOM was looking forward to the
Joint Combined Exercise Training (JCET) scheduled for April
1-15. The planning conference had gone well.
-- Chiefs of Defense (CHOD) Conference: PACOM welcomed
Indonesia's readiness to co-host this conference for East
Asian defense ministers, which would be held in Bali in
November 2008.
TREND TOWARD LONGER-TERM PLANNING, BIGGER EVENTS
7. (C) By all assessments, the 2008 BDD significantly
advanced bilateral mil-mil cooperation with Indonesia.
Continuing a trend, it was more substantive and better
focused than its predecessors. The number of events
planned for FY2009 is fewer than last year, but, overall,
those events are more comprehensive and of greater depth,
and emphasize quality over quantity. Moreover, there is
considerably more connectivity among the events, which are
no longer individual, stand-alone affairs but part of a
longer-term plan to develop TNI capabilities, consistent
with U.S. policy objectives. The one exception is
cooperation with the TNI Navy, which began cooperation more
recently and still needs a greater number of small-scale,
individual events at a more rudimentary level of
engagement.
A MODEL FOR OTHER PARTNERS?
8. (C) TNI international staff contacts tell us they are
far more satisfied with the U.S.-Indonesia format in this
area than they are with other bilateral dialogues under way
with other partner countries. The TNI is therefore seeking
to move those dialogues toward the U.S.-Indonesia model,
these contacts say. For example, the Australian dialogue
occurs between individual services only, while the dialogue
with Malaysia is conducted among individual functional
committees at different times of the year. In neither case
is there a comprehensive discussion.
HEFFERN