[4] Partly in effort to transform a regional, guerilla force into a professional, national military, the then Chief of Staff of the Army Abdul Haris Nasution established the National Military Academy (Akademi Militer Nasional), which was officially opened on 11 November 1957 and included Mount Tidar in its premises within Magelang, giving the academy its nickname of Lembah Tidar (Tidar Valley), modeled on the United States Military Academy.

Soon in 1961, the Indonesian Army Military Technical Academy (Akademi Tehnik Angkatan Darat / ATEKAD) based in Bandung was merged with the school and the cadets transferred to Magelang.

[11] Just like so many military academies in the world, the Indonesian Military Academy Magelang is a medium-sized, highly residential baccalaureate college, with a full-time, four-year undergraduate program that emphasizes instruction in the arts, sciences, and professions with a graduate program, preparing men and women to take on the challenge of being officers of the Indonesian Army.

The academic program consists of a structured core of subjects depending on the cadet's chosen specialty as a future Army officer, balanced between the arts and sciences.

As all cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants upon graduation, military and leadership education is combined with academic instruction.

Military training and discipline fall under the purview of the Office of the Vice Governor and Commandant of Cadets.

[16][17] Both organizations fulfill all of the official musical requirements of the academy, including military and patriotic ceremonies, public concerts, sporting events and radio and television broadcasts, as well as social activities for the Corps of Cadets, alumni of the academy and the entire community of Magelang, while appearing in all national events involving the Indonesian National Armed Forces as the seniormost field units of its military academies.

[18][19] He was a tenor drummer during his stinct as part of this formation, and during a June 2014 visit, he was joined by fellow alumni musicians of the Corps of Drums of the 1973 graduating class.