Hartono installs Soedjasmin as deputy Army chief
Hartono installs Soedjasmin as deputy Army chief
JAKARTA (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. R. Hartono yesterday installed Maj. Gen. F.X. Soedjasmin, who has extensive territorial experience, as his deputy to replace Lt. Gen. Soerjadi.
Soedjasmin's position as Army inspector general will be filled by Maj. Gen. A. Mudjani Syukur, currently the chief of the Siliwangi Military Command which oversees West Java, according to Army chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Afifuddin Thaib.
Afifuddin confirmed that Mudjani would head the Officers' Honorary Council that was established last week to follow up on the investigation of the killings of six supporters of East Timor's rebel group last month.
The 36-member council will continue on with the military investigation report that there was a violation of procedures in the killings in East Timor's Liquisa regency that has sparked an international outcry.
Afifuddin said the appointment of Soedjasmin as deputy chief of staff is the first of a series of changes in the Army's top leadership since Hartono assumed his post early this month.
Other top posts that will see changes are the chiefs of the Brawijaya military command in East Java, the Diponegoro command in Central Java, the Siliwangi Command in West Java, Tanjungpura military command in Kalimantan and the Trikora command which oversees Maluku and Irian Jaya provinces.
Afifuddin was able to confirm only two names yesterday:
Brig. Gen. Imam Utomo, the chief of staff of Brawijaya, will replace Maj. Gen. Haris Soedarno as the command's chief; Brig. Gen. Yusuf Kartanegara, currently of the Jakarta Garrison, will replace Lt. Gen. Soeyono, who was recently promoted to chief of the Armed Forces' General Affairs.
Afifuddin said Soerjadi, who, like his successor Soedjasmin is 53-years old, would remain at the Army headquarters pending further assignment.
Military sources have earlier said Soerjadi might be up for an ambassadorial post. He had earlier been one of the front runners for the Army's top job to succeed Gen. Wismoyo Arismunandar but lost it to Hartono.
Soedjasmin, born May, 1, 1942 in Salatiga, Central Java, and from Class 1964 of the National Military Academy, had been the Army's inspector general since July 1993.
Before this appointment, he spent virtually all his Army career in territorial assignments.
His previous commanding stints include chief of a military district in Central Java in 1986, chief of the first division of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command in 1988, chief of staff of the Trikora Military Command in 1989, chief of staff of the Sriwijaya Military Command in 1992 and in the same year was promoted as chief of the command.
The appointment of Soedjasmin, a Roman Catholic, further deflates the argument by some military commentators about the increasing "Islamization" of the Armed Forces (ABRI). The suggestion was made following the appointment of Hartono, who is close to the influential kiayis (Moslem local leaders) and the Association of Moslem Intellectuals, this month.
At the swearing-in ceremony of Soedjasmin yesterday, Gen. Hartono underlined that the chief task of his deputy is in coordinating and developing the Army's personnel.
He said such a task requires "art and skill" and believed that Soedjasmin has the capability to rise to the challenge. (rms)