Taifib () is an elite

recon In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconna ...

unit within the

Indonesian Marine Corps The Marine Corps of the Republic of Indonesia (, KORMAR RI), previously known as the Commando Corps of the Indonesian Navy (, KKO), is an integral part of the Indonesian Navy and is sized at the military corps level unit as the naval infantry ...

which is tasked for conducting

amphibious reconnaissance Amphibious reconnaissance consists of ground and naval reconnaissance in the littoral area bordering coastal or ocean areas. History Evolution of the doctrine At the turn of the 20th century, amphibious reconnaissance was first conceived ...

and

special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind ...

. It is operationally similar to the Combat Reconnaissance Platoon (, abbreviated "Tontaipur") from the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Kostrad The Army Strategic Reserve Command (; abbreviated Kostrad) is a combined-arms formation of the Indonesian Army. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has up to 35,000 troops. It also supervises operational readiness among all commands and con ...

corps. Taifib was previously known as (abbreviation from: ) which literally means in English: the Para-Amphibious reconnaissance Commandos, it was formed in 1961. They were officially formed on 13 March 1961 as . Set at a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

al strength of two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s, "Taifib" is formed basically as the elite amphibious reconnaissance unit of the Indonesian Marine Corps. It was first deployed for conflict management in Irian Jaya ( Papua) in April 1962. Starting from November 1971 it was called or Amphibious Recon Battalion.

History

At the time of the establishment of the Indonesian Marine Corps, the marine corps lacked the capability of intelligence, as well as special forces trained and able to carry out special activities that can not be done by ordinary units. Answering the need for an intelligence gathering unit, on March 13, 1961, the Marine Corps High Command issued a decree (No.47/KP/KKO/1961) regarding the formation of the Para- Amphibious

Reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

Commando Unit (). Those marines received training at the British-run Jungle Warfare Center in Malaya. During the following year a second group attended

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

reconnaissance training at Coranado. These cadres were combined to form the core of an elite reconnaissance unit combining airborne and amphibious skills. The KIPAM unit first saw action during

Operation Trikora Operation Trikora () was a combined Soviet– Indonesian military operation which aimed to seize and annex the Dutch overseas territory of New Guinea in 1961 and 1962. After negotiations, the Netherlands signed the New York Agreement with Ind ...

, as part of the Indonesian forces forward deployed to

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region ...

as part of their operations against the

armed forces of the Netherlands The Netherlands Armed Forces () are the military forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (mainland Netherlands in Europe and islands of the Dutch Caribbean). The armed forces consist of four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy (), the ...

. KIPAM and

Kopassus The Kopassus (, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as Direct action (military), direct action, unconventional warfare, sabot ...

personnel on loan to KOPASKA both were responsible for the retrieval of the bodies of the seven victims of the

30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement (, also known as G30S, and by the syllabic abbreviation Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement, also unofficially called Gestok, for ''Gerakan Satu Oktober'', or Fir ...

of 1965, in the presence of senior military officials. On July 25, 1970, KIPAM, then a detachment sized formation, was transformed into a battalion, the . On 17 November 1971, was again renamed into , eventually renamed again into , abbreviated . The unit was placed under the Marine Corps Combat Support Regiment. Along with the development of the Marine Corps and the inauguration of the 1st Marine Force (), on 12 March 2001, the Marine Corps General Command issued a decree (No. Skep/08/111/2001) in which Taifib are no longer placed under the Marine Corps Combat Regiment and are now under the jurisdiction of the newly formed 1st Marine Forces. Looking at the scope of the assignment and its capabilities, Taifib was finally officially designated as a Special Forces of the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...

. This was reinforced by a decree issued by the Commander of the National Armed Forces (Skep/1857/XI/2003) on 18 November 2003. To complement the expansion of the Corps a second battalion assigned to the 2nd Marine Forces was raised in 2008, and a 3rd is under formation, assigned to the 3rd Marine Forces.

Mission

Yontaifib has the main duty of fostering and providing the amphibious elements for amphibious operations as well as becoming the reconnaissance operation unit for the

task force which cooperates with the

. The nickname of the "''Sea Ghost''" () was given to the Taifib unit due to their deadly capabilities within the sea/ocean. Taifib unit has individual abilities above the average of ordinary soldiers and is able to quickly adapt to every operational surrounding environment. Infiltration and en-filtration capabilities to enemy areas, free fall with HALO and HAHO,

STABO The STABO (STA''bilized'' BO''dy'') extraction harness was a device which allowed military personnel to be rescued (by helicopter) from field locations which prevented the conventional landing and boarding of a helicopter. It was designed and d ...

/ SPIE systems, swimming, diving, and underwater capabilities as combat swimmers through submarine torpedo launchers become the most lethal capabilities possessed by this unit.

Recruitment and Training

Taifib accepts volunteers from the Marines with at least two years' experience. Ten months of commando training include a one-month airborne course: airborne qualification wings are presented after five day jumps, one night jump, and one 'rough terrain' jungle jump. Refresher jumps are conducted into the water.

Motto

, which originally comes from Sanskrit, is the motto of the Taifib, which means: * - Invisible * - Angel of Death The overall motto means that every Taifib member has the ability to move quickly, secretly and lethally in every mission.

References

Bibliography

* {{Naval special operations forces Special forces of Indonesia Indonesian Navy Armed forces diving Naval special forces units and formations Marines Military units and formations established in 1961