Royal Johor Military Force

The roles of JMF are growing in parallel to the JMF progress. Initially, they were established for Johor's safety and the king’s protection.[15] They later become a Gendarmerie unit tasked to protect the public safety in Johor. Some of them were assigned as palace Guards, guarding the palaces belonging to the Johor royal family.[11]

JMF is believed to be the oldest military unit in Malaysia with significant historical roles, especially in the suppression of the 1915 Singapore Mutiny and in both World Wars.[16] During World War I, the JMF was loaned to the British military. As the Johor State Forces, it played a significant role in the suppression and capturing the Indian soldiers of 5th Light Infantry who deserted in the "Singapore Mutiny" incident.[7][17] They were tasked to assist the British as prison guards for the German POW camp (Tanglin Barracks) in Singapore, maintaining the security of government premises in Singapore, and patrol on Pulau Brani and Pulau Belakang Mati (now known as Sentosa Island). Besides that, they also tasked to guard the main road in Mersing, Kluang and Batu Pahat, and the British military airbase in Kluang (now become the HQ of Malaysian Army Aviation).[18]

The modern JMF's roles is a second line of defence right after the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF).[15] Their main roles are to protect Sultan of Johor, his royal family and properties.[19] The JMF troops will be tasked with guard duty at four royal palaces in Johor Bahru. Beside the palaces, they are also tasked to guarding the JMF's camps, military posts, marching band's building, royal dock and royal yachts. They also tasked to become the Guard of honour during official ceremonies and foreign delegations visit to Johor.[20]

Their secondary roles are as a standby infantry unit for the MAF in case of emergency or armed conflict.[7] During an emergency, the JMF will be put under the command of the MAF.[7]

The uniforms of the JMF has changed throughout history. In the early of its establishment, the JMF use the same uniform like the police force (khaki colour uniform) but with red songkok instead of black used by the regular policemen.[11] Today, they are known for using:

Topi Timbalan

A black service cap with yellow trims and without a visor is used by the JMF troops during ceremonial duties. Usually matches together with the white JMF's service dress uniform (No 1 Uniform). It was a part of the JMF since the early 20th century for the other ranks troops while the officers used the normal version (see the image above of Sultan Ibrahim during King's Birthday Parade in Singapore). It is later become the unique identity of JMF and nowadays used even by the Sultan as a part of His Majesty's attires.[21][22]

Green Beret

It is used by the JMF in pair with combat uniform (No 5 Uniform) and Rifle green service dress uniform (No 3 Uniform). Beret has been used by the JMF since the 1940s and originally in Rifle green colour to symbolised the JMF's infantry status.[23][24] The colour later changed to Sherwood green (also known as Commando green) in the early '80s to matching the commando-trained status of Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, who was at the time newly appointed as the Tunku Mahkota of Johor and in the same time as the Deputy Commanding Officer of JMF.[25][26]

Combat Uniform

In the era of digital camouflage combat uniform, the JMF still keep the traditions by using the first camouflage used by the Malaysian Army. The colour scheme, namely as brush stroke pattern camouflage was introduced to the Malaysian Army at the end of the 1970s.[27] The JMF starts using them in the early '80s.[26]

The following are rank insignia for commissioned officers for the Johor Military Force.

Equivalent NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D) and student officer
Royal Johor Military Force			No equivalent								No equivalent														No insignia
	Commandant Komandan						Major General Mejar Jeneral		Brigadier General Brigedier Jeneral						Major Mejar		Captain Kapten		Lieutenant Leftenan			Second Lieutenant Leftenan Muda			Officer Cadet Pegawai Kadet
Notes:	Honorary only. Now only reserved for the Sultan						Rank for the Commanding officer of JMF. Was reserved for the Sultan only, until 2017		Rank for the Deputy Commanding officer of JMF. Was reserved for the Crown prince only, until 2017[28]						Rank for the Second-in-command of JMF. Most senior non-royal appointments		In charge of company or leader of smaller specialised team such as marching band and special force		In charge of Istana Guards platoons

The JMF has complicated ranks for its officers. It has the ranks of Major General and Brigadier General even though the overall strength of the JMF is more and less of a battalion. The history of the ranks begin in February 1941 when the strength of the JMF is c. 2000 soldiers and the Johor Volunteer Forces (JVF) is c. 1000 soldiers. Sultan Ibrahim as the commandant of both forces combined the forces and promoted the JMF's Second-in-Command of that time, Lieutenant Colonel Dato’ Haji Yahya into the rank of Colonel. One month later, the Sultan assumed the rank of Major-General. After World War II and the establishment of Malayan Union, the strength of JMF was reduced into 100 soldiers. With the Sultan's rank as Major General of the JMF made redundant, the Sultan was instead appointed an honorary Major General in the British Army in 1947.[2]

The present-day JMF's rank of Major General is an honorary rank reserved only for the Sultan from 1947 until 2017, while the rank of Brigadier General is reserved only for the Crown Prince. In March 2017, the Crown Prince or Tunku Mahkota of Johor, Tunku Ismail was promoted to Major General for his achievement in modernising the JMF.[29]

The following are rank insignia for other ranks for the Johor Military Force.

Equivalent NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Royal Johor Military Force	No equivalent																No equivalent												No equivalent						No insignia
							Warrant officer/Sergeant major Pegawai Waren/Sarjan Mejar		Staff Sergeant Staf Sarjan		Sergeant Sarjan												Corporal Korporal				Lance Corporal Lans Korporal								Private Prebet	Recruit Rekrut

There is two commandant post throughout the history of JMF. It is the Commandant Colonel of JMF and the Commandant of JMF. The Commandant Colonel of JMF is reserved only for the Sultan while the Commandant of JMF was the most professional non-royal appointments appointed by the Sultan to lead the force. The first Commandant of JMF is Captain C. N. C. Newland of the 2nd Battalion South Irish Division, Royal Artillery, who was appointed as an instructor and commandant in 1887. The position of Commandant of JMF was abolished in the 1920s and replaced with the position of Military Advisor (the most senior positions for European) and Second-in-Command (the most senior positions for locals). The Sultan assumed the post of Commandant Colonel cum Commanding officer of JMF. The Sultan's post of Commandant Colonel of JMF is later known as the Commandant of JMF.[2]

The Commanding officer (CO) of JMF is the most senior post in the JMF. This post is reserved for the Sultan of Johor's Royal Family to lead the JMF in administration and combat. Historically, this post belongs to the Sultan of Johor.[2][30] The Commanding officer of JMF holds the rank of Major General. The current Commanding officer of JMF is Major General Tunku Ismail Idris.

The Second-in-Command (2IC) of JMF is the most professional position in the JMF. The 2IC of JMF post is the highest positions that any JMF officers can achieve and holds the rank of Major. The current 2IC of JMF is Major Ahmad Hamdan Libar, succeeding Captain Jalalludin Hamsan, the previous 2IC that retired on 1 June 2018.[3]

*Later renamed to Timbalan Setia Negeri.

• Police and The Sultan Bodyguard unit
• Istana Guards

• Infantry/Gendarmerie forces
• Artillery forces
• ATSN Marching band[31] (Malay: Pasukan Pancaragam Timbalan Setia Negeri)

1900s–1905

• Infantry/Gendarmerie forces
• Istana Guards
• Artillery forces
• ATSN Marching band

1905–1939

The highest strength of JMF is in 1922 with 645 personnel.[11]

• Johor Military Force
  • Infantry/Gendarmerie forces
  • Istana Guards
  • Artillery forces
• ATSN Marching band

1939–1942

The highest strength of JMF by WWII is around 2000 personnel.[7]

• Johor Military Force
  • Infantry/Gendarmerie forces
  • Istana Guards
• Artillery forces (Ceremonial)

Post-WWII–1978

• Johor Military Force
  • Istana Guards

1979–2007

• Johor Military Force
  • Istana Guards
  • JMF Marching Band[7]
  • Administrations unit

The current JMF formations is divided into four units:[7]

Also known as the Astana Guards (English pronunciation for 'Istana'),[2] it is the biggest unit in the JMF. It consists of eight infantry platoons.[7] The guards will be on duty for 24 hours non stop. They are entrusted to guarding the four Istanas ('Palaces') that located inside Johor Bahru — the Istana Bukit Serene, Istana Besar, Istana Bukit Pelangi and Istana Pasir Pelangi. Beside the palaces, they are tasked to guarding the JMF's camps (in Taman Dahlia and Tampoi), military posts (in Straits Views, Skudai and Kolam Air), the marching band's building, royal's dock (in Stulang) and the royal yachts.[20] During guard duty, the guards are equipped with M-16 fixed with a bayonet.[7]

Established in 1979, it is a ceremonial unit that always takes part in ceremonial occasions that involving the Sultan. This unit is the predecessor of ATSN Marching band (EST. in the early 1900s).[7][31]

JMF officers and soldiers that assigned to administration, office work and instructor positions.[7]

Established in 2008, the JMF Elite forces is a special forces unit placed under the responsibility of the JMF with the mandate of providing security and close protection to the Royal Family of Johor, counter-terrorism and special reconnaissance in any incidents involving the state of Johor. This unit is the latest addition to the JMF and it only recruits its members from the JMF Istana Guards.

Last only for a day, it is done annually where the JMF staff will visit each district in Johor to recruit the potential trainees. The minimum physical requirement is 168 cm (5.51 ft) for height and 47.5 kg (105 lb) for weight. Potential trainees will go through a series of physical test.[7]

Trainees that succeeded the first stage will be brought to the Sultan Ibrahim Camp to face another series of test. The number of trainees here is double the size of the vacant slots. This stage is required to weed out half of its trainees. There are two tests here which is:[7]

• Physical Fitness Test (PFT) – Including 2.4 km (1.5 mi) run under 14 minutes.
• Character and behaviour test – Trainees are tested to make sure their interest is genuine and has the right attitudes and quality as outlined by the JMF — Loyalty, brave and serving with honour.

The trainee who passed all the preliminary stage will be selected as new JMF recruits. They will be trained with basic soldiering and infantry training. The training is not 100% similar to the Malaysian Army Basic Training. As royal guards, the training been through by the JMF recruits also includes protocol training, more precisely, how to interact with the royals. The recruits are required to master the Jawi script as all reports must be written in Jawi.[7]

There are many opportunities given by the JMF for its members. The sultan also encourages them to try for the JMF Elite Forces in their early 20s so they can stay fit for the special forces unit. The JMF also send their members to received training at the Malaysia Armed Forces training centres.[10][35] Some of the advanced training offered are:[7][10]

• Basic Parachute Course, at Special Warfare Training Centre (PULPAK)
• Section/Platoon Leader Course, at Army Combat Training Centre (PULADA)
• Advanced Firearms Course, at PULADA
• Physical training instructor (PTI) Course, at PULADA
• Army Musician training, at Army Music Training Centre (PUZIDA)
• Elite forces selection