Abstract
The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 devastated the conflict-torn province of Aceh on the most western tip of the Indonesian archipelago. At that time, the Indonesian government deployed thousands of soldiers to neutralize an armed separatist movement. Through qualitative research, this article discusses the story of an Indonesian Army’s Special Forces (Komando Pasukan Khusus or Kopassus) Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) who was able to emerge as a leader in an extreme situation in which the formal military and civilian leaders became non-existent. He was also able to show effective leadership by leading coastal tsunami survivors, among them the families of enemy combatants, to relative safety in the mountain and organized a functioning system during the critical period when help was still out of reach. Important findings related to the topic of leadership in extreme situations show that appropriate traits and values which are further enhanced with the right trainings and field experiences are important predictors of successful leadership in extreme situations. Further research should focus on the necessary traits related to leadership in extreme situations. In addition, a competency framework that incorporates effective leadership behaviors in extreme situations should also be explored further. Finally, future formulation of military leadership doctrine should also consider a more comprehensive approach that covers extreme situations where the military personnel might have to take over certain civilian roles.
The views expressed in this chapter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Indonesian National Defense Forces or the Indonesian National Army.
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Notes
- 1.
The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 19,000 island in the southeast of Asia, had more than 250 million inhabitants who descended from over 200 native ethnic groups and races, with distinctly different languages and religions (see Vickers 2005, p. 1). Unlike the Aceh province, which is exclusively Islamic in nature, the demography of North Sumatra is quite diverse in terms of ethnicities and religions, with substantial non-Muslim adherents. As such, the merging of Aceh and the North Sumatra province would not be helpful in creating an Islamic identity for the Acehnese.
- 2.
About 15,000 lives were lost in the three decades of armed conflict between the TNI and GAM.
- 3.
In Indonesia, a province is divided into several regencies, and each regency is then subdivided further into several districts.
- 4.
The territorial doctrine stated that TNI soldiers must be able to build, maintain, improve and stabilize the relationship between the TNI and the people in the territory that they are deployed in so that the soldiers and the people can become one (or in TNI jargon, “manunggal”). This doctrine is the legacy of Indonesia’s War of Independence, in which the TNI, who at that time faced the technologically superior Dutch colonial forces, had to create a defensive doctrine in the form of guerrila warfare, hence the territorial doctrine (Hidayat 2013, pp. 120–122).
- 5.
Not only have all land transportation systems been disrupted on the west coast of Aceh, port infrastructure from Meulaboh to Lhok Nga on the northern tip of the Aceh province has been destroyed as well (see map), making it impossible for large relief ships to berth (Pusat Sejarah TNI 2005, pp. 55–56).
- 6.
As noted in the US Naval War College report (2007, pp. 36–37), “throughout the humanitarian mission, U.S. forces dealt with force protection on an ongoing basis… In Indonesia, to avoid similar problems with the Free Aceh Movement (the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM), the U.S. government promised that troops would not set up base camps on Indonesian territory but would remain sea based … All of these sensitivities were assuaged by keeping the majority of U.S. forces offshore on board ship. Nonetheless, it was the ongoing insurgency in Aceh that made force protection a top priority. A cease-fire had been declared on 27 December, but during early January there were reports of open fighting between government forces and insurgents from the Free Aceh Movement, blocking a relief convoy for eight hours.”
- 7.
Leader emergence refers to “whether an individual is viewed as a leader by others.” See also Judge et al. (2002, p. 767).
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Hidayat, E.R., Susetyo, R.P. (2017). Leadership in Extreme Situations: Case Study of an Indonesian Special Forces Soldier During the Boxing Day Tsunami. In: Holenweger, M., Jager, M., Kernic, F. (eds) Leadership in Extreme Situations. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55059-6_12
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