New military chiefs of staff announced<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Chief of the Armed Forces (ABRI) Gen. Feisal
\nTanjung yesterday announced the names of the new National Police
\nchief, and the chiefs of staff of the Navy and the Air Force.<\/p>\n
Hartono, the current Army chief of staff is to keep his job.<\/p>\n
The appointments of the four chiefs are the prerogative of
\nPresident Soeharto and are regarded as political appointments.
\nThe latest appointments were contained in a series of
\nPresidential decrees dated March 8.<\/p>\n
In the reshuffle of ABRI's top leadership, Rear Admiral Arief
\nKushariadi has been appointed as the Navy chief of staff
\nreplacing Admiral Tanto Koeswanto, Rear Marshall Sutria Tubagus
\nas Air Force chief of staff in place of Marshall Rilo Pambudi and
\nMaj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo as the National Police chief in place of
\nGen. Banurusman.<\/p>\n
Tanto, Rilo and Banurusman, who have held their positions
\nsince 1993, are all approaching 55, the mandatory retirement age
\nin the military.<\/p>\n
Army chief of staff Hartono, who was only promoted last year,
\nwill also turn 55 soon and it is not known whether or not
\nSoeharto will keep him afterwards. Feisal yesterday declined to
\nanswer reporters' questions on Hartono's future.<\/p>\n
The three new chiefs will be sworn in at the State Palace this
\nFriday and are all due for promotion to three-star generals.<\/p>\n
The ceremony for their transfers of duty will all be held on
\nMonday in Surabaya for the Navy chief of staff, Yogyakarta for
\nthe Air Force chief of staff and in Semarang for the National
\nPolice chief. Gen. Feisal will preside at all three ceremonies,
\ntraveling to the different cities in one day.<\/p>\n
ABRI Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Suyono did not rule out
\nfurther changes in the coming months, including the possibility
\nof a new chief of the Jakarta Military Command, a position
\ncurrently held by Maj. Gen. Wiranto.<\/p>\n
Arief Kushariadi, 52, is a 1967 graduate of the Naval Academy.<\/p>\n
He spent his early career in the Navy on warships, including
\nKRI Angin Gending, KRI Yos Sudarso and KRI RE Martadinata. Later
\nhe was entrusted to take command of the destroyers KRI Ngurah Rai
\nand KRI Yos Sudarso. His career then took off, first as chief of
\nthe Navy's Western Fleet in 1993 and then as deputy chief of Navy
\noperational affairs last month.<\/p>\n
Sutrio Tubagus, 52, is a 1967 graduate of the Air Force
\nAcademy. He spent his early career in the force as a pilot,
\nstationed in Squadron 2 and Squadron 31 at Halim Perdanakusumah
\nair base. His command positions include chief of the Halim
\nPerdanakusumah air base, chief of Air Force education center in
\n1994 and deputy chief of Air Force on personnel.<\/p>\n
Dibyo Widodo, 50, graduated from the Police Academy in 1968,
\nand spent his early years in the force in North Sumatra. He was
\nPresident Soeharto's adjutant from 1986 to 1992 and later moved
\nto deputy chief of the Nusa Tenggara police from 1992. He
\nreturned to Jakarta last year to head the city's police force.
\n(rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-military-chiefs-of-staff-announced-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}