President Prabowo Subianto installed General Tandyo Budi Revita as Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army (KSAD) on Thursday, 15 October 2026, in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta. In the same event, Prabowo installed General Maruli Simanjuntak as Deputy Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), according to detikNews.
The president led the officials through the oath of office, which they repeated after him. The pledge, as reported by detikNews, commits each official to loyalty to the 1945 Constitution, to carrying out all laws and regulations faithfully in service to the nation and state, and to upholding the ethics of their position while performing their duties with full responsibility.
The ceremony marks a swap between the two posts at the top of the military's leadership structure. Maruli moves from the army's top job to the second-highest position in the armed forces, while Tandyo steps up to lead the army.
Why it matters
The installation reshapes two of the most senior commands in Indonesia's military at the same time. The KSAD oversees the largest branch of the TNI, and the Deputy Commander post sits directly beneath the armed forces commander in the chain of command. Filling both on the same day, in a single ceremony led by the president, keeps the transition contained rather than leaving either position vacant.
The change also drew attention from lawmakers. A member of the House of Representatives' Commission I, which handles defense and foreign affairs, said the exchange of positions between the Deputy Commander and KSAD roles raised no problem, according to Kumparan.com. That early comment suggests the reshuffle has not generated friction in the legislature, which must work with the military leadership on budget and policy matters.
For the army itself, the handover puts a new figure at the head of an institution that has been in the public eye over security operations in Papua. Tirto.id reported that the incoming army chief has flagged security in Papua as a priority and highlighted arrests in Maybrat. The reporting ties the new leadership directly to an active operational file rather than a purely ceremonial change of command.
Who is Tandyo Budi Revita
Tandyo is a graduate of the Military Academy class of 1991, detikNews reports. He was born in Surakarta, Central Java, on 21 February 1969. By the time of his installation, he had spent more than thirty years in military service.
That record places him in the generation of officers commissioned in the early 1990s, a cohort that has steadily moved into the TNI's senior ranks in recent years. His career spans more than three decades, a detail detikNews included in its profile of the incoming army chief.
The profile material published alongside the ceremony did not list the specific commands or postings Tandyo held before Thursday's appointment. What is documented is his academy class, his birthplace and birth date, and the length of his service.
Maruli Simanjuntak's move
Maruli's transfer to the Deputy Commander position was reported by detikNews in a separate profile published the same day. The outlet framed the move as one in which he "now serves" as Deputy Commander of the TNI, confirming that he vacates the army chief post he previously held.
The Deputy Commander role sits below the armed forces commander and above the service chiefs in the command structure. Moving from KSAD to that position is a lateral shift within the senior leadership rather than a promotion up the service ladder, though it places Maruli in a post that spans all three branches — army, navy and air force — rather than one.
Commission I's public response, as carried by Kumparan.com, treated the swap as routine. The lawmaker's comment that there was "no problem" with the exchange indicates that the legislature, which vets and oversees military appointments, did not raise objections to the arrangement.
Other personnel changes on the same day
The reshuffle was not limited to the two generals. Republika.co.id reported that the ranks of two deputy defense ministers were raised, with Yusuf Jauhari and Richard elevated to the positions of Marshal and General respectively.
That reporting places the military leadership changes within a broader set of personnel moves across the defense establishment on the same day. The elevation of the two deputy ministers to senior rank adds a further layer to the appointments announced alongside the palace ceremony.
Taken together, the day's changes touched the army's top post, the armed forces' second-in-command, and the senior ranks of the defense ministry's leadership. The concentration of announcements on a single date suggests a coordinated round of appointments rather than isolated decisions.
What to watch
The immediate question is how the new army leadership approaches the security file in Papua, where Tirto.id reports the incoming KSAD has already pointed to arrests in Maybrat as a focus. The next test will be how the two men settle into posts that sit directly above and below each other in the chain of command, and whether Commission I's early acceptance holds as the new leadership begins setting priorities.
