The 11th Strategic Division (;

Abbr. An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing perio ...

: 11 DIV STRAT), stylised XI Division, was a division-sized combat formation of the

Malaysian Army The Malaysian Army (; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is the land component of the Malaysian Armed Forces. Steeped in British Army traditions, the Malaysian Army does not carry the title ‘royal’ () as do the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysi ...

. It was unique as the only such formation composed entirely of

army reserve Army Reserve refers to a land-based military reserve force, including: *Army Reserve (Ireland) *Army Reserve (United Kingdom) *Australian Army Reserve *Canadian Army Reserve * New Zealand Army Reserve *United States Army Reserve *United States Navy ...

personnel from the

Malaysian Armed Forces The Malaysian Armed Forces (: MAF; ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The number of MAF active personnel is 113,000 ...

Reserve until it was transformed into a

strategic defence Strategic defence is a type of military planning doctrine and a set defense and/or combat activities used for the purpose of deterring, resisting, and repelling a strategic offensive, conducted as either a territorial or airspace, invasion or a ...

division on 2 May 1984. Over its operational history, the division underwent significant transformations before being disbanded on 31 December 1993, with its remnants integrated into the

Malaysian Army Training and Doctrine Command The Malaysian Army Training and Doctrine Command (MyTRADOC, , Jawi: ), also referred to as PL&DTD or PLDTD, is a military command responsible for overseeing all training centres, facilities, and museums of the Malaysian Army. Its headquarters i ...

History

Founded as an infantry combat formation

The division was established in 1969 as the 11th Infantry Division at Damansara Camp, Kuala Lumpur, with a primary role of defending

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

in the event of

armed conflict War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. Its creation resulted from a collaboration between the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

and the

University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

, which sought to establish a garrison for its reserve army. Under this agreement, the federal government constructed the garrison on university-owned land, which was shared with the 11th Infantry Division's headquarters. The division's headquarters remained at Damansara Camp until 1984, when it was relocated to Imphal Camp in Kuala Lumpur. The 8th Infantry Brigade was among the formations under the division's command.

Restructured to an army reserve combat formation

On 1 January 1980, the division was restructured and redesignated as the 11th Reserve Army Division (; Abbr.: 11 DIV (PSTD)). Its new role was to coordinate all reserve units within the Malaysian Army, centralising their operations and improving discipline and

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

, which were previously decentralised.

Restructured to a strategic defence formation

On 2 May 1984, the 11th Reserve Army Division evolved into the 11th Strategic Division, with a renewed focus on

. This included experimenting with military strategy and logistics to provide the Malaysian Army with a combat advantage. As part of its new role, the division trained selected units for specialised capabilities. Notably, on 1 January 1987, the 8th Battalion,

Royal Ranger Regiment The Royal Ranger Regiment (; RRD) is an infantry regiment of the Malaysian Army. Although it is second in seniority to the Royal Malay Regiment (''; RAMD''), the RRD can trace its origins back to the mid 19th century and the establishment of Th ...

, was designated as an

airborne unit Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers. The main adv ...

to assess its combat effectiveness. The success of this initiative led to the conversion of the 9th Battalion,

Royal Malay Regiment The Royal Malay Regiment (; Jawi: ) is the premier unit of the Malaysian Army's two infantry regiments. At its largest, the Malay Regiment comprised 27 battalions. At present, three battalions are parachute trained and form part of the Malaysia ...

(in late 1990) and the 17th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment (in 1992) to airborne roles. At its height, the division commanded units such as Task Force 083 (now the 10th Parachute Brigade) and the 8th Squadron, Royal Army Engineers Regiment.

Dissolution

The division was officially disbanded on 31 December 1993. Its personnel and facilities were absorbed into the newly created

, marking the end of the 11th Strategic Division's legacy.

Notes

References

{{Malaysian Army Malaysian Army Formations of the Malaysian Army