Garuda Contingent

Garuda Contingent (Kontingen Garuda)
An Indonesian soldier UN peacekeeper
Active	1957 – present
Country	Indonesia
Role	Peacekeeping
Nickname(s)	Konga
Engagements	Various peacekeeping missions with the United Nations

The Garuda Contingent (Indonesian: Kontingen Garuda, often abbreviated Konga) is a group of peacekeepers drawn from the Indonesian military that serve with the United Nations. Since its first mission in 1956, it has deployed to three continents.

The Garuda Contingent was first deployed to Egypt and Israel in November 1956 as part of the United Nations Emergency Force. It was first under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Hartoyo, who was later replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Suhadi Suromihardjo.

The next two contingents were sent to the Congo. The first contingent consisted of 1,074 troops and was led by Colonel Prijatna (later replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Solichin); this contingent served from September 1960 to May 1961. The second contingent to the Congo consisted of 3,457 troops and was led by Brigadier General Kemal Idris (later replaced by Colonel Sabirin Mochtar); this contingent served from 1962 to 1963 and saw one casualty.

The Garuda Contingent's fourth and fifth deployments were to Vietnam in 1973 and 1974, towards the end of the Vietnam War. This was followed by a sixth deployment to Egypt after the Yom Kippur War under the command of Colonel Rudini. The Garuda Contingent later returned to Vietnam and Egypt for a seventh and eighth deployment, respectively.

After an eight year hiatus, the Garuda Contingent deployed as part of the United Nations Iran–Iraq Military Observer Group under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Endriartono Sutarto, then Lieutenant Colonel Fachrul Razi and Johny Lumintang.

In 1992, five Garuda Contingent members participated in the United Nations Operation in Somalia I under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Bibit Santoso. This was later reduced to four soldiers, under the command of Major CZI Budiman.

During the Bosnian War, the Garuda Contingent deployed medical officers and military observers in their fifteenth mission. This was not well received by the Indonesian populace, who wished that the soldiers took a more active, military role. This was followed by a deployment to Georgia and a 15-man deployment to Mozambique in 1994. That same year they were also deployed to the Philippines under the command of Brigadier General Asmardi Arbi (later replaced by Brigadier General Kivlan Zein) to help deal with the conflict between the Moro National Liberation Front and the Philippine government.