Aussie officers visit RI on cultural exchange
Aussie officers visit RI on cultural exchange
JAKARTA (JP): A group of military officers from the Australian Joint Services Staff College are currently on a whirlwind tour of Indonesia to familiarize themselves with the country's customs and people.
Headed by the college's commandant, Brig. J.B. Wilson, the 22- member group will criss-cross the country for the next week covering such places as Bandung, Batam, Balikpapan and Surabaya.
Wilson said that given Indonesia's strategic and economic importance to Australia, it was imperative for them to gain first-hand knowledge of the country.
As he put it, the tour has a much broader purpose than just studying the military aspects and they hope to gain a better understanding of the people and the culture of Indonesia.
The Australian defense attache here, Brig. Kerry Mellor, said that in planning the itinerary he wanted the officers to "go back to Canberra knowing that there was more to Indonesia than a wayang kulit show and a view of Candi Borobudur."
The Joint Services Staff College trains officers at the lieutenant colonel rank to prepare them for positions in the Australian Armed Forces.
The college each year also hosts several Indonesian officers in the program. The most notable graduate being the current Naval Commander Adm. Tanto Koeswanto.
According to Wilson, Indonesia is probably the most studied country during the officers' stay in the college.
He added that the participation of foreign officers in the college training has also helped bring about an understanding of each other's country.
Out of some 2,000 graduates in the past 25-years, around 500 have been from abroad.
Indonesian-Australian military cooperation has been growing in the past few years in line with the increasing ties between Jakarta and Canberra.
Mellor said that over the past two years joint military activities between the two sides have steadily increased. He expects that they will continue to do so since both sides stand to benefit.(mds)