Academy (AKABRI). After seeing the soldiers training there and perhaps inspired by his own father's career, Yudhoyono became determined to join the Indonesian Armed Forces and become a soldier. Yudhoyono planned to enlist after graduating from high school in 1968; however, he missed the registration period. Young Yudhoyono then became a student under the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in Surabaya before entering the Vocational Education Development Center in Malang, East Java. There, he was able to prepare everything for the next phase of his education at the military academy AKABRI. Yudhoyono officially entered AKABRI in 1970 after passing the test in Bandung. Yudhoyono also studied in the United States, where he received his master's degree in Business Management from Webster University in 1991. He subsequently earned PhD in agricultural economics from the Bogor Agricultural University on 3 October 2004, two days before his presidential victory was announced. His dissertation was entitled "The Rural and Agricultural Development as an Effort to Alleviate Poverty and Unemployment: a political economic analysis of fiscal policy". He was also awarded two honorary doctorates in 2005 in the fields, respectively, of law from his alma mater, Webster University, and in political science from Thammasat University in Thailand. On 12 June 2014, he earned professor degree from Defense University of Indonesia in National Defense Science. Military service Military academy Yudhoyono spent three years at AKABRI and became the commander of the Cadet Corps Division there. He graduated from AKABRI as second lieutenant in 1973, and as the best graduate of the year, received the prestigious Adhi Makayasa medal from President Suharto. Kostrad After graduating, Yudhoyono joined the Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) and became a platoon commander in the 330th Airborne Battalion. Aside from leading his troops, Yudhoyono was also tasked with giving the battalion soldiers lessons on general knowledge and English. Yudhoyono's proficiency in English was one of the reasons why he was sent to the United States to undertake the Airborne and Ranger Courses at Fort Benning in 1975. Yudhoyono returned to Indonesia in 1976, where he became a platoon commander in the 305th Battalion and was assigned to Indonesian-occupied East Timor. Yudhoyono had several tours of duty and, like many other Indonesian officers involved in the occupation of East Timor, was accused of committing war crimes. However, Yudhoyono has never been charged with any specific act. From East