Air Force marks anniversary modestly

The Indonesian Air Force commemorated on Tuesday its 56th anniversary in a modest way at the Halim Perdanakusuma air base, East Jakarta.

To add to the simplicity of the celebration, President Megawati Soekarnoputeri, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Adm. Widodo A.S. and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto were absent.

Unlike last year, the Air Force's Jupiter Blue aerobatics team missed the event.

Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Hanafie Asnan said the modesty reflected the concern of senior TNI officers at the economic crisis in the country, which is continuing unabated.

Later on Hanafie ate lunch with some of his men in their marquee (photo above).

In the absence of Widodo, Hanafie presided over the ceremony for the first time since he took command in 1998.

Leading figures who attended the celebration included former Air Force chief Omar Dani, Navy chief Adm. Indroko Sastrowiryono, and Deputy Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Kiki Syahnakrie.

Some nine battalions of troops were involved in the event, which lasted one and a half hours.

In the speech read out by Hanafie, the TNI chief extended condolences to the families of the victims of two Hawk MK-53 fighter jets, which crashed claiming the lives of their four pilots after an aerobatics exercise in East Java on March 28.

The Air Force was established seven months after Indonesia declared independence in August 1945. Founding president Sukarno named Commodore Suryadi Suryadharma the first Air Force chief of staff. --JP