City military gets new chief of staff

City military gets new chief of staff

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso
installed yesterday Brig. Gen. Sudi Silalahi as the new chief of
staff at the Military Command, replacing Brig. Gen. Sjafrie
Sjamsoeddin.

Sudi, 44, a 1972 graduate of the Armed Forces Academy, was a
former deputy assistant to the Armed Forces chief of
sociopolitical affairs.

Sjafrie, a 1974 graduate of the academy, will replace Sutiyoso
-- who is still awaiting President Soeharto's approval of his
appointment as governor of Jakarta -- on Wednesday next week.

Sutiyoso praised Sjafrie, who served as city military chief of
staff for 13 months and three days, for his good management
skills and a job well-done.

"The Armed Forces chief has chosen the right man for the job
by promoting Sjafri to the higher position of Jakarta military
commander," he said.

According to Sutiyoso, he met Sjafrie in 1991 when he was a
deputy commander of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) in which
Sjafrie was a deputy operational assistant.

"I'm sure that Sjafrie will be better than me as Jakarta
military commander," he said.

Sjafrie, who was born on Oct. 30, 1952, was appointed chief of
the Presidential Guard Corps in 1993, chief of the Bogor Military
Command the following year, and then deputy chief of the Jakarta
Garrison in 1995 before he was appointed Jakarta military chief
of staff on Aug. 14, last year.

In yesterday's ceremony, Sutiyoso urged Sjafrie's successor,
Sudi, to pay more attention to the upcoming national and
international events, including next month's Sea Games and the
March general assembly of the People's Consultative Assembly.

"The two events must proceed safely and successfully."

He said the military command would deploy 10,000 officers to
ensure security at these important events. (jun)