Mon, 19 Sep 1994

Indonesia special force now gets a new commander

JAKARTA (JP): Kopassus (Special Command Force), the Army's most fearsome unit, now has a new commander in the latest major reshuffle of the Armed Forces' top leadership.

Brig. Gen. Subagyo Hari Siswoyo, 48, is no stranger to the elite red beret force. He began his military career and spent a great deal of time with the group. He also served in military intelligence.

Subagyo, who replaces Brig. Gen. Agum Gumelar, was formally inducted on Saturday at Kopassus's headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta in a military ceremony presided over by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Wismoyo Arismunandar.

Most former Kopassus chiefs have gone on to even higher military posts. Wismoyo was himself chief of the force at one stage. Agum has been reassigned as chief of staff at the Bukit Barisan Military Command which oversees security in the northern part of Sumatra.

Wismoyo reminded the Kopassus troopers that they have to be constantly ready for deployment in any part of the country to maintain national security.

For this, they must continue with their mental and physical training, he said.

Kopassus has been at the forefront of most of the military's crucial operations in the past, including crushing the communist forces following their abortive coup attempt in 1965, and in putting down various rebellions, including in Irian Jaya, Aceh and East Timor.

It was a Kopassus team that stormed a Garuda Indonesia airliner which had been hijacked by Moslem extremists to Bangkok in 1981.

Subagyo was a member of that team and he along with the other team members were awarded an immediate rank promotion upon their return.

Hailing from Yogyakarta, Subagyo, joined Kopassus upon graduating from the Military Academy in 1970. He served the force for the next 14 years.

He was recruited into the presidential security guard command from 1986 to 1988. Between 1988 and April of this year he served in the Armed Forces' intelligence agency. He served five months in the Army's Security and Code Division before being appointed to head Kopassus. (rms)