 His luck changed when Lieutenant Colonel Ali Murtopo found out that he was part of Kostrad.Having been acquainted with Moerdani during the West Irian campaign, Ali recognized Moerdani's potential and wanted to further develop it.Coincidentally, Ali at the time was the Intelligence Assistant for the 1st Combat Command, a Kostrad unit stationed in Sumatra in preparation for the confrontation ordered by Sukarno in response to the creation of Malaysia in the fall of 1963.