Marines form second division

JAKARTA: Seven thousand new marines formed the Navy's second division on Tuesday, their main duty to guard against foreign incursions, Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh said.

The extra recruits will bring the total number of marines to 17,000.

Bernard said the new division was part of the Marines' development program for the next 10 years, which reflected the fact Indonesia was an archipelago. The Marines needed at least 26,000 troops to patrol thousands of kilometers of the country's water boarders, he said.

During the ceremony at the Marine headquarters in Cilandak, South Jakarta, Bernard installed Col. Halim A. Hermanto, formerly deputy chief of the Jakarta naval base, as the second division's commander. -- Antara