1985 the Armed Forces was officially severed from the operational control of the Ministry of Defense to become a separate institution, reporting directly to the office of the President (in his/her capacity as Commander in Chief) while being assisted by the Minister of Defense in matters relating to its constitutional mandates. With regards to command structure, Moerdani first eliminated the Regional Defense Commands (Kowilhans), a command structure that had been created in 1969, as well as the joint service National Strategic Command ("Kostranas"). He then revamped the regional commands system for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Army's Military Regional Commands (Kodam) were reduced from 16 to 10, the Navy's 8 Regional Naval Commands (Kodaeral) were streamlined into 2 Fleet Headquarters, and the Air Force's 8 Regional Air Force Commands (Kodau) were similarly streamlined into 2 Air Operational Commands, with all commanding officers demoted to being liaison officers for the military regions, which became the primary area organisation for strategic, tactical, and territorial operations for all service branches. The National Police was also reorganized with red tape being cut to allow Police forces at the lowest levels to take immediate action and response against criminal activities. Moerdani also worked towards decreasing the non-military portion of the Armed Forces Academies' (Akabri) curriculum. To improve the quality of the academy's input as well as to strengthen the nationalist base, Moerdani conceptualized a senior high (pre-Academy) school to train the nation's brightest talents to later become members of the national elite group (the school, Taruna Nusantara, is now running and located side by side with the Military Academy in Magelang). Moerdani also improved cooperation between the Armed Forces of ASEAN countries. Tanjung Priok Incident Moerdani's Catholic background came to the forefront in 1984 when together with KODAM V/Jaya Commander, Try Sutrisno, he ordered a crackdown on Islamist protesters at Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, which resulted in deaths. Moerdani claimed the protesters had been provoked and could not be controlled peacefully, so he ordered the crackdown. Moerdani insisted he never wanted to persecute Muslims and conducted visits to Muslim schools around Java to improve his image with Muslims. As ABRI Commander-in-Chief, Moerdani was arguably the de facto second most powerful man in social and political aspects of the Republic, after Suharto. Political career 1988 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session By 1988, Moerdani's relationship with Suharto had soured. Although he was loyal to Suharto,