Moeldoko (pronounced uldoko born 8 July 1957) is an Indonesian government official, businessman, and retired

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

serving as the current Chief of Staff of Presidency for President

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...

, previously serving as Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. He graduated from the Indonesian Military Academy (AKABRI) in 1981 and received the Adhi Makayasa medal as valedictorian of his class. On 27 August 2013, he was appointed Commander of the National Armed Forces by President

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to as SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired Indonesian Army, army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014 and the second president of Ind ...

and approved by the People's Representative Council (, DPR) after serving as the Chief of Staff of the Army for only three months. He succeeded Admiral (Ret.) Agus Suhartono who retired in May 2013.

Military career

Moeldoko has been assigned to several military operations during his career. The most notable of these operations are: Operation Seroja in East Timor (1984) and Garuda Contingent XI/A for The Congo (1995). In addition, his overseas assignments and operations include stints in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(1983 and 1987),

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(1991),

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Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

(1992), USA, and

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. Within seven months of 2013, General Moeldoko was granted three promotions: first as Deputy Army Chief of Staff in February, then as Army Chief of Staff in May, and as Commander of

Indonesian National Armed Forces The Indonesian National Armed Forces (; abbreviated as TNI) are the military forces of the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of the Indonesian Army, Army (''TNI-AD''), Indonesian Navy, Navy (''TNI-AL''), and Indonesian Air Force, Air Force ('' ...

(TNI) on August 30. In the same year, he also received a Doctorate degree in public administration science from the Faculty of Social and Political Science of the Universitas Indonesia (UI). In February 2014, he met with the Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, General Fan Changlong in

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, to discuss bilateral ties. These discussions were related to maritime and

anti-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

cooperation as well as the Komodo multilateral joint exercise that involves all 10

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

member states together with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Japan, New Zealand,

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South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and USA. To promote friendship and cooperation, General Moeldoko met with Vietnamese General Phùng Quang Thanh, Minister of National Defence of Vietnam in February, 2014 and with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Armed Forces of the Philippines General Emmanuel Bautista at Camp Aguinaldo. Although he has never served outside the military, General Moeldoko has been active at home and abroad. He has been mentioned as potential VP and running mate of

, the governor of Jakarta and candidate in the 2014 Indonesian presidential elections, though he ultimately is not selected as a candidate.

Political career

After retiring from the military, Moeldoko joined Hanura Party in 2016. On 17 January 2018, Indonesian president Joko Widodo chose him to be the Presidential Chief of Staff. In 2021, he was elected as a Democratic Party General Chairman in a heavily disputed extraordinary congress.

Controversies

General Moeldoko has been involved in handling the incident of the turning-back asylum boats in Australia. He is also involved in the decision to name an Indonesian navy ship after marines associated with MacDonald House Bombing in Singapore in 1965. He had also been criticized for allegedly wearing a $100,000 Richard Mille Felipe Massa collection watch while millions of Indonesians are living in poverty. Moeldoko stated that the watch is a Chinese-made fake replica and not a real one.

Personal life

Moeldoko was born in Kediri, East Java as the youngest son in a family of twelve children. He attended an agricultural

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

in the town of Jombang in East Java and the joined the military academy in Magelang, Central Java. Moeldoko was married to Koesni Harningsih (d. 2023) and has two children, Randy Bimantoro and Joanina Rachma.

Awards and distinctions

During his military career, General Moeldoko has received many awards and distinctions. The Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) was conferred to him by the President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam in recognition of his contributions in strengthening ties between the Indonesian and Singaporean armies.

Medals and decorations

File:Bintang Dharma.gif, Mil. Disting.
Service Star File:Pingat Jasa Gemilang ribbon (from 1996).png, Mil. Meritorious
Service Medal
(Singapore) File:Eka Paksi Pratama.gif, Def. Meritorious
Service Star File:Eka Paksi Nararya.gif, Army Meritorious
Service Star File:Satyalancanawiradharma.jpg, Malaysia/Borneo Mil.
Campaign Medal * Indonesia Military Distinguished Service Star.
( Bintang Dharma) * Singapore military Meritorious Service Medal.
( Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera)) * National Police Meritorious Service Star. ( Bintang Bhayangkara) * Defence Meritorious Service Star – 2nd Class.
( Bintang Yudha Dharma) * Army Meritorious Service Star – 2nd Class.
( Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi Pratama) * Defence Meritorious Service Star – 3rd Class.
( Bintang Yudha Dharma) * Army Meritorious Service Star – 3rd Class.
( Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi) * Dharma Santala Medal. * Medals of 24 years, 16 years, 8 years of loyalty service.

Foreign honour

* : ** Meritorious Service Medal (Military) (2013) ** Distinguished Service Order (Military) (2015) * : Order of Paduka Keberanian Laila Terbilang 1st Class (2014) * : Commander of the Philippine Legion of Honor (2014) * : ** Courageous Commander of The Most Gallant Order of Military Service (2015) ** Honorary Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (2015) * : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Thailand (2015)

References

External links

National Portal Republic of Indonesia

Official website of Indonesian Armed Forces

A US-Indonesia Partnership for 2020

Military Politics, Ethnicity and Conflict in Indonesia
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moeldoko, Moeldoko Indonesian generals Working Cabinet (Joko Widodo) Commanders of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Honorary commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia 1957 births Living people People from Kediri (city) People's Conscience Party politicians Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) Recipients of the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Tentera)