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Infantry

The first formation of military force can be traced to The Malay States Volunteer Rifles which existed from 1915-1936. The birth of Malaysian Army started when the Federal Council of Federated Malay States eventually passed the Malay Regiment Bill on 23 January 1933. This allowed the initial recruitment of 25 males for First Experimental Malay Company on 1 March 1933. Major G. McI. S. Bruce of the Lincolnshire Regiment was the first Commanding Officer. By 1 January 1935, the Experimental Company became The Malay Regiment with a complement of 150 men. A new battalion was formed on 1 Jan 1938 with the second batalion on 1 Dec 1941. The 1st Malay Regiment was famous for its defence of Opium Hill or Bukit Chandu in Singapore. The ‘Battle of Opium Hill’ on 14 February 1942 involves 42 soldiers commanded by Lt. Adnan Saidi defending their position against the attack from the 18th Division of the Japanese Imperial Army under Lt.Gen. Renya Mutaguchi. After World War II, the number of batalions was increased to 7 in the early 50s.

Armour

The first Armoured Regiment was formed on 1 September 1952. The name underwent a few transformations from Federation Reconnaissance Corps on 16 September 1967, Royal Malaysian Recon Corp in May 1979 to Royal Cavalry Corp in December 1979 to finally to Royal Armoured Corp on 8 December 1986.

Army Corps and Regiments

The Malaysian Army currently has 17 corps or regiments under its wing. They are:

Rejimen Askar Melayu DiRaja (Royal Malay Regiment) is the first regiment of the MA. As its name suggests, only Malays are allowed to join. It also has its own Mechanized Brigade as well as 2 rapid-deploy paratrooper battalions. A unit of the Regiment, 19 Royal Malay Regiment was involved in the rescue of US Rangers and Delta Forces operatives in Somalia during the Battle of Mogadishu. The unit of 32 Condor APC and 113 men from went in with [10th Mountain]] to rescue the trapped rangers. 4 APCs were immobilised and was destroyed by US Cobra aka Little-Birds. 1 KIA, and 8 others were WIA. Pvt Mat Aznan Awang was later promoted pothmonously to Corporal and was awarded with , the nation's highest gallantry award. In total, 7 officers and 26 NCOs were awarded with various medals for their valour during the operation, the highest number of men recommended for medal in a single unit in a single operation.

Rejimen Renjer DiRaja (Royal Rangers Regiment) is a multi-racial version of RAMD. The Regiment is an independent Regiment and does not have the role to complement the Royal Malay Regiment. In fact, both regiments have assisted each other in teather of operations many times. Both Royal Malay Regiment and Royal Ranger Regiment are part of the Army's Infantry Corp.They are trained in almost aspect of the conventional warfare, just like RAMD±. The is the first infantry battalion in the Malaysian Army to be converted into an airborne battalion. The unit is now currently placed under the elite . The Army's most decorated hero, who is also Malaysia's most decorated hero, came from this battalion. The Regiment is also the most decorated unit in the Army.

(Royal Armour Corps) is the armoured corps of the MA. It will be receiving 48 Twardy PT-91 Main Battle Tanks from Poland, which will be a valuable asset to the MA's arsenal.

(Royal Artillery Regiment) is the artillery corps of the MA. It also receiving the 12 Brazilian's Astros II MLRS and towed artillery gun from South Africa. In additiion, RAD also undertakes air defence duties using Oerlikon 37mm and Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft artillery and MBDA Jernas SAMs.

(Royal Signals Regiment) is in charge of communications and electronic warfare during the war. It also utilises the Early Warning and Detection System such as Radar.

(Special Forces Regiment); all the elites, experts and specialists of various warfare gather here. It is also the home of the Commando battalions that capable of conduct unconventional warfare or special operations without the restrictions of the terrain. One of the known foreign operations involving this regiment was an attack by Somali militia on a convoy transporting UN Intelligence Chief in UNOSOM II on 18 July 1994. In the action, 2 members of the regiment was killed in action and another 4 were wounded. One of the wounded was taken hostage by the militia and was released 9 hours later.

(Royal General Services Corps) is a branch of MA that handles all paperworks and administration, as well as the financial management of the entire army.

(Royal Military Police Corps); this branch of MA trains Military Police army personnels that will serve as a disciplinary control of all army personnels within the country. They also provide the security services on every single army barracks's gateway.

(Royal Medical Corps) trains medics and surgeon specialists that serves as life savers on the battlefield. They are also taking part in United Nation's Peace Keeping Operations where they will not only serve the MA, but the refugees and civillians in times of need.

(Royal Intelligence Corps) speciallise in pyscho-warfare (ie, pysops), surveillance, spying, reconnaissance and counter-intelligence operations. they also filters the background of recruits when they first enroll in any training courses. The corp also handles propaganda and counter-propaganda effort.

(Royal Logistics Corps); ferrying of troops and military supplies are performed by this regiment.

(Royal Ordnance Corps) ensures that all military supplies and ordnance are in good storage and maintains the security of the army's inventory.

(Royal Engineering Regiment) is the place which deals with demolition, forming bridges for transportation and also the repair of military infrastructure such as airbase runways or clearing obstacles in emergency situations.

(Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps) takes care of all vehicles and machinery of MA and maintains their usability at all times.

(KAGAT) performs religious services for Muslim army personnels of MA. They also provide counselling and conduct ritual prayers on the battlefield.

Rejimen Askar Wataniah (Territorial Army Regiment) forms the second line of defence of the entire Malaysia, formed by college students, professionals and civillians, they provide support for the regular armed forces of Malaysia and security services of key infrastrutures in times of conflict. They can also act as recon agents in times of need.

(Army Air Corps) is the air support formed by a group of ex-RMAF officers. This newest squad provides air cover, transportation or ferry, limited air support and also air reconnaissance using helicopters. Including Agusta A109 and (SA 316) Alouette III army helecopters.

Media

Different from most nation, there seems to be little interest from the local film industry to film movies touching on patriotism and military in Malaysia. The dearth of these films and the growing concern over the lack of patriotism among younger generations of Malaysians have pushed the Army to film a movie titled Lt Adnan in 2000. The movie was launched on August 31, 2001 by the then King of Malaysia. The movie had renewed interest among younger generations of Malaysians to take up a career in military. Another reason to the increased interest was also that the financial crisis in 1997 had caused unemployment to rise significantly while the number of graduates kept on increasing from year to year. The next project was a 29-episode drama called , starring . The drama was shown on for about 13 episodes before it was suddenly discontinued. No reason has been given to the discontinuation. Efforts from the Army Headquarters to get drama to be shown again on prime time is believed to be continuing. The drama itself is still continued to be shown to National Service recruits. Another drama related to the military is . It was originally slated to be shown on national television on March 1, 2006 in occasion of the Army Day, but till today, no words have been heard about it. Snippets of the drama had been shown previously.

External links

Categories: Armies | Military of Malaysia

Contents

Infantry

Armour

Army Corps and Regiments

Media

External links