The US Provides More Than US$ 130 Million for the Indonesian Soldiers

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (left) and United States (US) Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin (right) in Bahrain. (U.S Secretary of Defense Documentation)
Advertisement

The US Provides more than US$ 130 Million for the education and training of Indonesian soldiers. This was revealed from a bilateral meeting between the United States Minister of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and the Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto at the Indonesian Ministry of Defense office, Jakarta, Monday (21/11/2022).

Austin said that the US provided more than US$130 million for the education and training of Indonesian soldiers. In contrast, more than 100 US military officers have been educated here.

“As President Biden announced at the ASEAN-US summit, we plan to fund new education while opening up networks for emerging civil defense leaders, enhancing English language skills, professional military education, and institutional capacity,” Austin said.

“We appreciate RI’s support for this effort. Our investment in the next generation of leaders will ensure our shared vision of a safe, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region can last for many years,” he continued.

As a reminder, earlier this year, Indonesia released the Super Garuda Shield program. In the program, there are around 4,000 soldiers involved from 14 countries, one of the largest multilateral exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Actually, professional military training began in the 1970s. Since then, more than 7,000 Indonesian soldiers have been trained by the US,” said Austin.

“For more than a decade, our troops have conducted joint training and we are continuing to expand our engagement,” Austin said in a press release.

The meeting between the two defense ministers is not the first time. As previously reported, Prabowo Subianto met the US Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, at the Pentagon, USA, Thursday (20/10/2022) morning local time.

At the meeting, Austin said he was ready to support strengthening the main tools of the Indonesian weapon system.

This was conveyed by Pentagon Spokesman Pat Ryder in a media briefing, Friday (10/21/2022) early morning WIB.

“Both of them discussed the alignment of future cooperation between the United States and Indonesia, where both countries want a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is a global concern,” he said.

On that occasion, Austin appreciated Indonesia’s leadership in ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific, and other parts of the world.

“The two leaders emphasized the importance of continued cooperation as regional security dynamics became increasingly complex. To support this goal, Austin expressed interest in continuing to assist in the modernization of the Indonesian military and to strengthen interoperability between the United States and Indonesia,” Ryder said as quoted from the Pentagon’s official website.