Infantry Brigade 1 told to safeguard the capital

JAKARTA (JP): City Military chief Maj. Gen. Wiranto has reminded Infantry Brigade 1 of their obligation to safeguard the capital.

"All members of the brigade have the obligation and responsibility to protect the city from any disturbances and threats that could adversely affect public order and security in the capital," Wiranto said yesterday in a ceremony to mark the replacement of the brigade commander.

Infantry Brigade 1 is an assault unit of the City Military Command which is supported by a cavalry battalion.

Wiranto installed Col. Eddy Budianto as the new commander of the brigade, replacing Col. JS Romulo R. Simbolon.

Budianto was previously Territorial Assistant of the City Military Command. Simbolon will be installed as director of the Infantry Center for Education, based in Bandung, West Java.

Simbolon was a 1973 graduate of the National Military Academy, while Budianto was a 1974 graduate of the academy.

Budianto took part in Seroja Operation in East Timor -- a special military operation against Fretilin separatists in 1980 -- and served in the intelligent unit of the City Military Command and the intelligent unit of the Military Agency for Security and Order Reconstruction from 1980 to 1988.

He then became chief of Infantry Battalion 113 in Aceh and territorial assistant of the City Military Command, before being installed as the commander of the Infantry Brigade 1.

Budianto was commander of Indonesia's Garuda troops sent to Bosnia as part of the United Nations' peacekeeping troops from 1992 to 1993.

His military preparation includes an Army Command Course in Bandung (1988-1989) as well as an Army Command Course in Kansas (1992) and an Intelligence Course in Arizona (1985), both in the United States.

Born in Magelang on Oct. 21, 1950, Budianto is a father of two, with a daughter and a son from his marriage to Endah Sri Ratnaningtyas. (29)