ISSUE 183 : Nov/Dec - 2010 - Australian Defence Force Journal

joint amphibious exercise conducted at the end of the year, although, because of its relevanceto ‘Confrontation’, this was one of the few activities from which East was excluded.The pattern of instruction was normally lectures followed by syndicate discussions, writtenassignments, student lectures and lengthy periodic written examinations. Each student wasrequired to give three presentations of two hours duration. East selected the Korean War, theMalayan Emergency 1958-60 and the Pentropic Division as the subjects of his presentations.Two essays were also set—one on the meaning of the Muslim fasting month and another ona military topic. 11Hospitality in the midst of conflictEast kept a daily diary of his time in Indonesia. Understandably, it was a fairly guarded documentwith very few mentions of political affairs. However, it is clear from his diary and the officialreports he produced—along with an article he wrote—that he was very well received, despitethe increasing tempo of operations and political mobilisation in support of ‘Confrontation’.He had been farewelled by the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Brigadier General Suadi,and was met in Jakarta by the Australian military attaché, Colonel Freddie Whitelaw, andLieutenant Colonel Tambunan, who had returned from the Australian Staff College a yearbefore to become an instructor at SESKOAD and was to be East’s sponsor for the year.In his opening speech to the course on 6 January, the Minister for the Army (and ArmyCommander), Lieutenant General Ahmad Jani (who would perish in a failed coup d’etat inOctober 1965), personally greeted East en route to the podium and mentioned in his speechthat East’s presence marked the beginning of attendance by other foreign students to fosterbetter understanding between their respective countries. Before departing, Jani wished Eastwell with his studies. Then, in his opening address, the Commandant, Major General Sudirman,referred to East in glowing terms and said that he and Shirley would now be members of theSESKOAD family. 12Although Sudirman was the commandant, the dominant officer in East’s time at SESKOADwas Brigadier General Suwarto, the deputy commandant. Like most of the Army, both werestrongly anti-communist. Suwarto, who had lost a leg to cancer the previous year, was oftendescribed as a ‘PSI leaning officer’, which meant he was sympathetic to the policies of theIndonesian Socialist Party, which emphasised ‘modernisation, economic development andrational planning and organisation’. 13 He wanted to revamp the course to meet the higheststandards. He was very supportive of East, entertained him occasionally and sponsored hismembership of the Bumi Sangkuriang Club—which became the centre of East’s social life. Healso pressed East on several occasions for his critique of the course and of the arrangementsfor hosting foreign students.The other senior staff member was the chief instructor, Colonel Raden Saleh Sadeli. He was oneof the last of 18 Indonesians to graduate from the Royal Military Academy in Holland betweenthe First and Second World Wars. 14 He was captured by the Germans in mid-1940 and, afterthe war, returned with Dutch forces to suppress the Indonesian independence movement.However, after independence, he was forgiven and accepted into the Indonesian Army. Sadeliwas responsible for the day-to-day management of the course and personally escorted East ona trip to Central Java to see its ancient Hindu and Buddhist monuments. With such high level48