President Jokowi Inaugurates Muhammad Ali as Navy Chief of Staff

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated Admiral Muhammad Ali as the new Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) chief of staff following Admiral Yudo Margono’s appointment as the new commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Apart from inducting Ali as chief of staff, the president also promoted him from the vice admiral ranking to full admiral.

"(I promise that) in executing my duties, I will uphold ethics and work to the utmost of my ability and responsibly. I promise to uphold the soldier's oath," Ali read his oath before the president at the inauguration ceremony at the State Palace here, Wednesday, Dec. 28.

Prior to this, Ali served as the commander of the Joint Regional Defense Command (Kogabwilhan) I from August 2, 2021.

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Ali was inducted into the Naval Academy in 1989 and after completing his study at the academy, he steadily rose through the ranks in the Navy. He was the adjutant of Vice President Boediono from 2012 to 2014 and later served as chief of staff of the Western Indonesian Area Maritime Security Group of the Western Fleet of the Republic of Indonesia Command (Guskamlabar) from 2014 to 2015.

Ali then served as special staff for the TNI AL chief of staff in 2015 before being inducted as the Guskamlabar Commander from 2015 to 2017. He then served as the TNI AL chief of staff's deputy assistant for planning and budgeting from 2017 to 2018 and the Naval Academy Governor from 2018 to 2019.

Ali was inducted as coordinator of TNI AL chief of staff expert staff in 2019 and Commander of the Republic of Indonesia Fleet Command (Koarmada) I from 2019 to 2020. He served as TNI AL chief of staff's assistant for planning and budgeting from 2020 to 2021.