VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOI News, Jakarta: The Indonesian Navy's Marine Corps is preparing its troops to participate in the 2024 Multilateral Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) Joint Training held by the United States Navy (USINDOPACOM) in Hawaii, the US.

According to a statement received on Friday from the Navy's Marine Corps Information Service, the preparations included a series of trainings at the Sutedi Senaputra Marine Corps, Karangpilang, Surabaya, East Java, for 14 days, starting from May 19 to June 1, 2024.

As reported by Antara (24/5) Commander of the Marine Task Force for the 2024 Rimpac Joint Training Major Lukman Susanto elaborated that the preparation exercise included checking on personnel and equipment readiness, deepening the material, and conducting several exercises, such as shooting and rappelling practice.

"This preparation exercise must be carried out by the task force participating in the joint training to support the 2024 Rimpac Joint Training in Hawaii next June," he noted.

The training also aims to boost the professionalism, loyalty, and combat skills of the Indonesian Navy Marine Corps soldiers, Susanto said.

In the planning for the exercise presented at a meeting at Fleet II Command Headquarters, Surabaya, last month, the Indonesian Navy prepared 43 soldiers from the Marine Corps and seven soldiers from the Frog Troop Command (Kopaska) for the 2024 Rimpac Joint Training. These troops will later join the 2024 Rimpac Task Force Joint Training led by Commander of navy ship (KRI) Raden Eddy Martadinata-331 Marine Colonel Adam Tjahja Saputra.

For this year's Rimpac Joint Training, the Indonesian Navy deployed the KRI Raden Eddy Martadinata-331, which is a warship from the Indonesian Navy's Second Fleet Command (Satkor) Eskorta Ship Unit.

On May 21, the warship conducted a firing test of the 76 Cannon in the north of Java Sea as part of the preparations.

Rimpac Joint Training is a maritime military exercise held routinely every two years by the United States Navy from the Joint Asia Pacific Defense Area Command (USINDOPACOM), stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The exercise, which was first held in 1971, usually takes place from mid-June to July.

Apart from troops from the Indonesian Navy, personnel from the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) are also prepared to join the training.

Head of Bakamla, Vice Admiral Irvansyah, shed light on the plans for Bakamla's participation in the 2024 Rimpac during his meeting with Deputy Commander of the United States Coast Guard (USGC), Admiral Steven D. Poulin, in Washington, D.C., the United States, on March 9, 2024. (Antara)

VOI News, Jakarta: Indonesian Navy soldiers from the 1st Marine Corps Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion (Yontaifib) and the United States Marines on Friday wrapped up a series of reconnaissance and infiltration exercises under the "Reconnaissance Exchange" (Reconex) Joint Exercise 2024.

The two units underwent a series of closing exercises ranging from long-range navigation exercises to complete infiltration exercises (full mission profile) from May 8–10, 2024.

Commander of Marine Troops (Danpasmar) 1, Brigadier General Umar Farouq, emphasized that joint training between Indonesian and United States Marine troops would not stop at the 2024 Reconex.

"There will be many more exercises between the two units," he informed while reviewing the training on Thursday, according to an official statement released on Friday.

As part of a series of full mission profile exercises on Damar Island since Thursday, Amphibious Reconnaissance soldiers from the two countries practiced infiltrating enemy areas, paralyzing targets, freeing prisoners, and treating and evacuating combat victims, followed by exfiltrating, or leaving the enemy area after completing the mission.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday (May 8), the soldiers trained in long-range navigation, a cross-surface infiltration technique using rubber boats (seariders).

In a separate official statement issued by the US Embassy in Indonesia, Commander of Alfa Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division of the US Marine Corps, Captain Ethan Hamilton, informed that the Reconex training was a unique opportunity for soldiers from the two countries to build mutual trust.

According to him, the joint exercise aimed to improve the capabilities of the two countries' reconnaissance forces in terms of tactics, techniques, and procedures in a hostile environment.

The Reconex training is a joint exercise that is held routinely by the Indonesian Navy's Marine Corps and the United States Marine Corps every one–two years.

This year, the training took place from April 25–May 10. It was attended by 120 soldiers from the 1st Yontaifib of the Indonesian Navy's Marine Corps and 20 soldiers from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the 1st Marine Division of the US Marine Corps.

Besides Damar Island, the Reconex training was also held in several other locations, namely Marine Combat Training Center (Puslatpur) 6 Antralina, Sukabumi, West Java; the Pondok Cabe Airbase in Tangerang, Banten; and the Indonesian Armed Forces Training Command in Jakarta. (Antara)

VOI News, Jakarta: TNI AU Staff Deputy Chief, Vice Marshal Andyawan Martono, discussed joint training plans with Japan Air Self-Defense Deputy Chief, Lieutenant General Takuto Ogaswara, alongside the 2024 Air and Space Conference in Canberra, Australia, May 9.

"The two officials discussed the possibility of joint exercise between the two air forces," as quoted from the Indonesian Air Force's official statement on Friday.

The Indonesian Air Force welcomes the Japanese military to conduct joint exercises. This will be beneficial for Indonesia to gain new perspective and combat experience with Japan.

In addition, both nations can share knowledge on war strategies and technology of the main weapons systems, according to the statement.

This cooperation in the military sector will also strengthen the long-standing sound relations between Indonesia and Japan.

Hence, the Indonesian Air Force ranks hope that the joint military air training activities would be completed shortly.

Earlier, Indonesian Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto, and his Japanese counterpart, Minoru Kihara, discussed several matters during their meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on April 3, including those related to defense cooperation, one of which was continuing cadet exchanges and issues related to the Indo-Pacific region.

Prabowo is optimistic that defense cooperation between the two countries would continue to increase based on the success of earlier programs.

"I previously met with the Japanese minister of defense and asked to send cadets from Indonesia, starting with two people. After that, I asked for another batch, and we have sent four people in total," Prabowo told Kihara at the meeting.

Minister Kihara also conveyed his stance against all unilateral decisions and changes that could increase tensions in the South China Sea.

He believes that Japan and Indonesia, as maritime countries, can work together to ensure the implementation of law in maintaining the Indo-Pacific as a free and open region. (Antara)

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesia and Sweden launched the 2024 Health Services Platform in Jakarta on Friday (26/4). It is part of the Sweden-Indonesia Sustainable Partnership Program (SISP) which has been launched since 2020. 

This launch was attended by Indonesian Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia, Timor Leste and ASEAN, Daniel Blockert, as well as health industry players. In his speech, Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin conveyed that through the partnership program, the Indonesian government wants to facilitate the business sectors of both countries in a bid to expand networks and opportunities for cooperation.  

He also remarked that the business people have a high role in encouraging and succeeding the programs of the two countries that want to improve health services for the community.

”When you see these arrangements, it's less G-to-G, but more G-to-private. So, we are dealing not mostly with the government of Sweden, but with private companies. To become a high income country, impossible for the government if we don't facilitate the private sector. The one that moves the needle of the economy is the private sector. If we want to move the needle, we have to write a regulation that the private sector coming in, invests, it's much more efficient. Compared to private hospitals, we are nothing. I think government hospitals are only 800 and declining. The number of private hospitals is increasing. So, more and more deliveries of healthcare services are done by the private sector,” he conveyed.   

Moreover, in 2023, the Swedish team along with the Indonesian Ministry of Health will begin a collaborative effort to develop the partnership program of  2024 Health Services Platform. Both countries are working together to share knowledge, technology and experience in developing sustainable health services. 

The Sweden-Indonesia Sustainable Partnership (SISP) is an inter-governmental (G-to-G) platform to develop collaboration between Sweden and Indonesia where both countries work together to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  This partnership aims to foster cooperation between Swedish and Indonesian institutions and companies in various sectors, including transport, energy, health, mining and manufacturing. (Ndy/ Mar/AF/Rahmana)