Retired Army generals get honorary promotions<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Three retired Army major generals, Sintong
\nPandjaitan, Zaini Azhar Maulani and Kentot Harseno, were promoted
\nto lieutenant general yesterday in an unusual though not
\nunprecedented move.<\/p>\n
Sintong, Maulani and Harseno will carry the title Honorary
\nLieutenant General. They join the late Lt. Gen. (ret) Soesilo
\nSoedarman, coordinating minister for politics and security in the
\nlast cabinet, and former coordinating minister for people's
\nwelfare Maj. Gen. (ret) Azwar Anas, who in 1993 were promoted to
\nfull general and lieutenant general respectively.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, honorary ranks within the Indonesian Armed
\nForces (ABRI) are given to outstanding officers prior to their
\nretirement.<\/p>\n
The three honorary lieutenant generals are indeed unique in
\ntheir own way. Sintong Pandjaitan, a 1963 graduate of the
\nNational Military Academy (AMN), is remembered for his
\noutstanding achievement in 1965. Then, as a lieutenant in the
\nred-beret elite force, he retook the RRI radio station in Jakarta
\nwhich had fallen into the hands of communist rebels during their
\nabortive coup.<\/p>\n
His second big break came in March 1981, when he led an
\nantiterror operation to free a hijacked Indonesian airliner in
\nBangkok. The hijacking ended with four of the five hijackers
\nkilled, but Sintong lost one officer. Achmad Kirang was shot in
\nthe stomach when trying to enter the aircraft through a rear
\ndoor.<\/p>\n
Sintong, then a lieutenant colonel, was assistant for
\noperations in the Covert Warfare Forces Command (Kopassandha),
\nwhich has since changed its name to the Army special force
\n(Kopassus). He belonged to Detachment 81, a unit in Kopassandha,
\nwhich specialized in antiterror operations.<\/p>\n
After Bangkok, his star continued to wax and in 1985 he was
\nappointed special forces commander. His career in the military
\nculminated when he was appointed commander of the Udayana
\nRegional Military that oversees Bali, East Timor and Nusa
\nTenggara.<\/p>\n
However, it was also his last assignment that brought an end
\nto his promising military career. On Nov. 12, 1991, Indonesian
\ntroops fired on a crowd of 3,500 mourners in a cemetery in Dili,
\nthe capital of East Timor, leaving 50 dead and wounding many
\nmore.<\/p>\n
Sintong was removed from his post, together with R.S. Warrouw,
\nchief of the military operational command in East Timor, and
\nseveral other officers.<\/p>\n
After spending a year studying in the U.S. in a cooling-off
\nperiod, Sintong returned home and joined the Agency for the
\nAssessment and Application of Technology (BBPT) as an assistant
\nto then state minister of research and technology B.J. Habibie.<\/p>\n
Sintong was also appointed head of BPPT's Department for the
\nDevelopment of ABRI's Weapons and Facility Technology.<\/p>\n
\"I really enjoy working at BPPT, although the atmosphere here
\nis completely removed from life in the military. Here at BPPT, we
\nare very open to discussions, because accuracy is our main
\nconcern and priority. At the military, speed comes before
\nanything else,\" Sintong, who retired in 1996, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Maulani, a 1962 AMN graduate, is one of three Dayaks who have
\nmade it to ABRI's top ranks.<\/p>\n
A former chief of the Tangjungpura Regional Military Command,
\nMaulani retired in 1991 and is now advisor to the chairman of
\nBPPT and head of the Defense and Security Department at the
\nStrategic Industries Management Agency (BPIS).<\/p>\n
Maulani is also recognized as a keen writer and his work
\nregularly appear in various publications across the country.<\/p>\n
Harseno, a former chief of the Jakarta Military Command, is a
\n1961 AMN graduate. He became popular for his campaign to improve
\ndiscipline among Jakartans which included sending troops to clean
\nthe city's walls of graffiti.<\/p>\n
He was also very successful in safeguarding the 1992 general
\nelection and the 10th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in the
\nsame year.<\/p>\n
In both events, practically none of Harseno's troops were seen
\non the streets, a stark contrast to last year's general election
\nand last month's General Assembly of the People's Consultative
\nAssembly.<\/p>\n
Also yesterday, 29 high-and middle-ranking Army officers
\nreceived their promotions. Among these were Amir Sembiring,
\nRyamizard RC, Sugiarto Maksum, Lisno, H. Suharna Ruchiat and
\nSoeryanto Suryokusumo, who were promoted to major general and
\nwill occupy new posts. (lem)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/retired-army-generals-get-honorary-promotions-1447893297",
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