Moeldoko (pronounced [muldoko]; born 8 July 1957) is an Indonesian government official, businessman, and retired general serving as the current Chief of Staff of Presidency for President Joko Widodo, 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 August 27, 2013, he was appointed Commander of the National Armed Forces by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and approved by the People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, 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 (1983 and 1987), Singapore and Japan (1991), Iraq-Kuwait (1992), USA, and Canada. 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 (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, to discuss bilateral ties. These discussions were related to maritime and anti-terrorism cooperation as well as the Komodo multilateral joint exercise that involves all 10 ASEAN member states together with Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea 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 Joko Widodo, 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