Lieutenant General Dading Kalbuadi (14 April 1931 – 10 October 1999) was an Indonesian Army General and the commander during Operation Seroja (Operation Lotus) the Indonesian invasion of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

(1975–1976). He last served as an Inspector General of the Department of Defense of Indonesia.

Early life

Dading Kalbuadi was born in Adipala,

Cilacap Regency Cilacap Regency (, also spelt: Chilachap, old spelling: Tjilatjap, Sundanese: ) is a regency () in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Cilacap, which had 263,098 inhabitants in mid 2024, sprea ...

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

, April 14, 1931. During the

Indonesian War of Independence The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during ...

, he joined the "Indonesia Merdeka atau Mati" armed militia (IMAM) in

Purwokerto Purwokerto () is a large but non-autonomous town on the island of Java, Indonesia. It is the coordinating centre of local government (''Bakorwil 3'') and the largest city in southwestern Central Java (known as the ''Barlingmascakeb'' regio ...

Banyumas Banyumas (, formerly spelled "Banjoemas") Regency is an inland regency () in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Purwokerto, but that town no longer has a central administration and is split o ...

from 1946 to 1950.

Military career

Dading Kalbuadi continued his career to the

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. H ...

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

, where he befriended Benny Moerdani future General of the

Indonesian Armed Forces The Indonesian National Armed Forces (; abbreviated as TNI) are the military forces of the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of the Army (''TNI-AD''), Navy (''TNI-AL''), and Air Force (''TNI-AU''). The President of Indonesia is the Supreme ...

. After graduating he joined the Resimen Para Komando Angkatan Darat (RPKAD) and continued his studies at

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. Dading Kalbuadi was deployed against Darul Islam rebels in

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

, and PRRI Rebels in

Riau Riau (Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including s ...

, as part of Operation Tegas, where he was shot in a rebel attack. In 1975 he was assigned by Benny Moerdani, to

Operation Flamboyan Operation Flamboyan was a joint military operation in 1975 carried out by various elements of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia (ABRI) with the aim of annexing the Portuguese Timor. The operation was planned by L. B. Moerdani, Benny Moe ...

, in

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor () was a Portuguese colony on the territory of present-day East Timor from 1702 until 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the regio ...

, where he was tasked with infiltrating the territory and supporting pro-Indonesian forces, in preparation for the main Indonesian invasion in Operation Seroja. During the

Indonesian Occupation of East Timor The Indonesian occupation of East Timor began in December 1975 and lasted until October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese Timor, Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal led to the decolonisation of ...

he obtained the rank of general and was appointed as the commander of the regional defense and security of

, replacing Soewano. After leaving East Timor in 1978 he became commander of

Kodam IX/Udayana Kodam IX/Udayana (IX ''Military Regional Command/Udayana'') is a military regional command of the Indonesian Army which is responsible for the Lesser Sunda Islands. It was established as part of the 1985 reorganisation of the Indonesian National A ...

until 1983. When Benny Moerdani was promoted to Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces, Dading was given a promotion to Chief of the General Staff of the Indonesian Army, when Benny was promoted to

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

, Dading was promoted to Inspector General of the Department of Defense.

Personal life

Dading Kalbuadi died in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

on October 10, 1999

References

Sources

*TNI Watch!-- Let. Jendral Dading Kalbuadi - https://web.archive.org/web/20110801015157/http://www.minihub.org/siarlist/msg03876.html (October 12, 1999) * NDONESIA-LKMP - Dading Kalbuadi- http://www.library.ohiou.edu/indopubs/1999/10/10/0048.html (October 10, 1999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalbuadi, Dading 1931 births 1999 deaths People from Cilacap Regency Javanese people Banyumasan people Indonesian generals