DEFENSE COOPERATION -- A ROBUST AGENDA FOR FY-2009

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. JAKARTA 00000268 002 OF 002 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