Abstract
The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 devastated the conflict-torn province of Aceh on the most western tip of the Indonesian archipelago. At that time, the Indonesian government deployed thousands of soldiers to neutralize an armed separatist movement. Through qualitative research, this article discusses the story of an Indonesian Army’s Special Forces (Komando Pasukan Khusus or Kopassus) Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) who was able to emerge as a leader in an extreme situation in which the formal military and civilian leaders became non-existent. He was also able to show effective leadership by leading coastal tsunami survivors, among them the families of enemy combatants, to relative safety in the mountain and organized a functioning system during the critical period when help was still out of reach. Important findings related to the topic of leadership in extreme situations show that appropriate traits and values which are further enhanced with the right trainings and field experiences are important predictors of successful leadership in extreme situations. Further research should focus on the necessary traits related to leadership in extreme situations. In addition, a competency framework that incorporates effective leadership behaviors in extreme situations should also be explored further. Finally, future formulation of military leadership doctrine should also consider a more comprehensive approach that covers extreme situations where the military personnel might have to take over certain civilian roles.
The views expressed in this chapter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Indonesian National Defense Forces or the Indonesian National Army.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 19,000 island in the southeast of Asia, had more than 250 million inhabitants who descended from over 200 native ethnic groups and races, with distinctly different languages and religions (see Vickers 2005, p. 1). Unlike the Aceh province, which is exclusively Islamic in nature, the demography of North Sumatra is quite diverse in terms of ethnicities and religions, with substantial non-Muslim adherents. As such, the merging of Aceh and the North Sumatra province would not be helpful in creating an Islamic identity for the Acehnese.
- 2.
About 15,000 lives were lost in the three decades of armed conflict between the TNI and GAM.
- 3.
In Indonesia, a province is divided into several regencies, and each regency is then subdivided further into several districts.
- 4.
The territorial doctrine stated that TNI soldiers must be able to build, maintain, improve and stabilize the relationship between the TNI and the people in the territory that they are deployed in so that the soldiers and the people can become one (or in TNI jargon, “manunggal”). This doctrine is the legacy of Indonesia’s War of Independence, in which the TNI, who at that time faced the technologically superior Dutch colonial forces, had to create a defensive doctrine in the form of guerrila warfare, hence the territorial doctrine (Hidayat 2013, pp. 120–122).
- 5.
Not only have all land transportation systems been disrupted on the west coast of Aceh, port infrastructure from Meulaboh to Lhok Nga on the northern tip of the Aceh province has been destroyed as well (see map), making it impossible for large relief ships to berth (Pusat Sejarah TNI 2005, pp. 55–56).
- 6.
As noted in the US Naval War College report (2007, pp. 36–37), “throughout the humanitarian mission, U.S. forces dealt with force protection on an ongoing basis… In Indonesia, to avoid similar problems with the Free Aceh Movement (the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM), the U.S. government promised that troops would not set up base camps on Indonesian territory but would remain sea based … All of these sensitivities were assuaged by keeping the majority of U.S. forces offshore on board ship. Nonetheless, it was the ongoing insurgency in Aceh that made force protection a top priority. A cease-fire had been declared on 27 December, but during early January there were reports of open fighting between government forces and insurgents from the Free Aceh Movement, blocking a relief convoy for eight hours.”
- 7.
Leader emergence refers to “whether an individual is viewed as a leader by others.” See also Judge et al. (2002, p. 767).
References
Baikoeni EY, Oishi M (2015) Ending a longstanding intrastate conflict through internationalisation: the case of Aceh in Indonesia. In: Oishi M (ed) Contemporary conflicts in Southeast Asia: towards a new ASEAN way of conflict management. Springer, Singapore
Basri H (2010) Islam in Aceh: institutions, scholarly traditions, and relations between ulama and umara. In: Graf A, Schröter S, Wieringa E (eds) Aceh: history, politics and culture. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, pp 182–183
BCOM (2016) The boxing day tsunami facts and figures. http://www.thebcom.org/ourwork/reliefwork/96-the-boxing-day-tsunami-facts-and-figures.html?showall=1. Accessed 20 Jan 2016
Chan KJ, Soh S, Ramaya R (2011) Military leadership in the 21st century. Cengage Learning Asia, Singapore
Conboy K (2003) Kopassus: inside Indonesia’s special forces. Equinox Publishing, Singapore
Dinas Sejarah Angkatan Darat (2015) Dari Opskamdagri hingga Opslihkam NAD (From Internal Security Operation to Security Restoration Operation in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD)). Dinas Sejarah Angkatan Darat, Bandung
Direktorat Topografi Angkatan Darat (2015) Peta Aceh (map of Aceh). Direktorat Topografi Angkatan Darat, Jakarta
Haseman JB (2011) Separatist rebellion. In: Frederick WH, Worden RL (eds) Indonesia: a country study, 6th edn. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C
Hidayat ER (2005) A case study of the use of a competency framework in the Australian army for performance management and development. Master of Human Resources Management and Coaching Research Report. University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Hidayat ER (2013) The comprehensive versus the terrritorial approach: civil-military cooperation in the Indonesian Army context. In: Woycheshin D, de Gradff M (eds) The comprehensive approach to operations: international perspectives. Canadian Defence Academy Press, Kingston
Hidayat ER, Tjahjono AE (2014) Adaptive leadership doctrine for the Indonesian Army transformation. In: Lindsay D, Woycheshin D (eds) Adaptive leadership in the military context: international perspectives. Canadian Defence Academy Press, Kingston
Jones S (2015) Yudhoyono’s legacy on internal security: achievements and missed opportunities. In: Aspinall E, Mietzner M, Tomsa D (eds) The Yudhoyono presidency: Indonesia’s decade of stability and stagnation. ISEAS, Singapore
Judge TA, Bono JE, Ilies R, Gerhardt MW (2002) Personality and leadership: a qualitative and quantitative review. J Appl Psychol 87(4):765–780
Kopassus (1998) Mengabdi kepada bangsa dan negara (Serving the nation and the state). Kopassus, Jakarta
Kopassus (2000) Pengabdian Korps Baret Merah Abad XX (The Red Beret Corps serving in the 20th century). Kopassus, Jakarta
Miller MA (2009) Rebellion and reform in Indonesia: Jakarta’s security and autonomy policies in Aceh. Routledge, New York
Moore M, Ritchie M (2014) How the boxing day tsunami unfolded, hour by hour. The Telegraph
Nasir RY (2012) Tragedi tsunami Aceh paling hebat di dunia pada abad ke-21 (Aceh Tsunami, the greatest tragedy in the world in the 21th century), Harian Online Kabar Indonesia. Accessed 25 Feb 2012
Octavian A (2012) The military and globalization: studies of military sociology in the context of globalization and its contribution to the transformation of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI), 2nd edn. UI Press, Jakarta
Pusat Sejarah TNI (2005) TNI dalam Operasi Kemanusiaan: tsunami di provinsi NAD (TNI in Humanitarian Operation: tsunami in the NAD province). Pusat Sejarah TNI, Jakarta
Pusat Sejarah TNI (2006) Duka bangsa dan dedikasi TNI (The nation’s sorrow and TNI’s dedication). Pusat Sejarah TNI, Jakarta
Putranto JP (2009) Aceh conflict resolution: lessons learned and the future of Aceh. Master of Science in Defence Analysis Thesis. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey
Reedy N, Aung T, Singh A (2009) Effect of the 2004 boxing day tsunami on water properties and currents in the Bay of Bengal. Am J Environ Sci 5(3):247–255
Reid A (2005) An Indonesian frontier: acehnese and other histories of Sumatra. NUS Publishing, Singapore
Reid A (2006) Colonial transformation: a bitter legacy. In: Reid A (ed) Verandah of violence: the background to the Aceh problem. NUS Press, Singapore, pp 96–108
Santosa I, Natanegara EA (2009) Kopassus untuk Indonesia (Kopassus for Indonesia). Red & White Publishing, Jakarta
Sinadinovsk C (2006) The event of 26th of December 2004: the biggest earthquake in the world in the last 40 years. Bull Earthq Eng 4(2):131–139
Statemaster.com (2016) http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Impact-of-the-2004-Indian-Ocean-earthquake-on-Indonesia#Teunom. Accessed 5 Jan 2016
US Naval War College (2007) Waves of hope: the U.S. Navy’s response to the tsunami in Northern Indonesia. Naval War College, Newport
Vickers A (2005) A history of modern Indonesia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Webster A (1998) Gentlemen capitalists: British imperialism in southeast Asia. Tauris Academic Studies, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hidayat, E.R., Susetyo, R.P. (2017). Leadership in Extreme Situations: Case Study of an Indonesian Special Forces Soldier During the Boxing Day Tsunami. In: Holenweger, M., Jager, M., Kernic, F. (eds) Leadership in Extreme Situations. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55059-6_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55059-6_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55058-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55059-6
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)