Malaysian Army
The Malaysian Army is the land component of the Malaysian Armed Forces. Steeped in British Army traditions, the Malaysian Army does not carry the title ‘royal’ as do the Royal Malaysian Air Force and the Royal Malaysian Navy. Instead, the title is bestowed on selected army corps and regiments who have been accorded the honour by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who is the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces.
The Malaysian Army is currently organised into four Divisions and are placed under the Field Army Headquarters. Three of which (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Divisions) are based in Peninsular Malaysia and the fourth (the 1st Division) is based in East Malaysia. The Grup Gerak Khas (Special Forces group), 10th Parachute Brigade and the Pasukan Udara Tentera Darat (Army aviation) are independent formations and directly subordinate to the Chief of the Army.
Present strength of the Malaysian Army is approximately as follows:
Malaysian Army Active: 80,000 personnel (To be reduced to 60,000 eventually).
Active Reserve: 48,000 personnel
5 infantry divisions, formed from 12 infantry brigades, 1 parachute brigade and 1 mechanised brigade. The 3rd Division (“Sehitam, Semerah”) is converting to become the army’s first combined arms formation.
