Join the Air Force

   I was born in Amurang, a small town on the northern peninsula of Sulawesi (Celebes), approx. 80 km to the south of Manado, on Saturday, October 29, 1938.  I was raised in the area until I graduated from a public senior high school in Tomohon,  went to college in Tondano for a while, and finally joined the Indonesian Air Force in February 1958.

   Initially, I had to undergo a 6-month basic military training for Indonesian Air Force officer candidates in Margahayu, a small airbase located just south of Bandung, West Java. By the end of the course, I was about ready to attend pilot training at our Advanced Flying School in Kalijati — another airbase near Subang, West Java — when at the last minute the Air Force Training Command announced to us about the change of the plan.

   The new plan was that my classmates and I were to be sent abroad by our government for military pilot training at the Czechoslovak Air Force Flying College.  The program itself — only later be known to us as the "Chakra" (Tjakra) project — seemed to be confidential and our class (1958-1960) was the first of three batches in succession. It was intended mainly to recruit new jet fighter pilots and jet bomber pilots for the Indonesian Air Force. Students who failed during the pilot training had a chance to switch over to navigator training or, otherwise, they would be sent back home to Indonesia.

   Note: There were 46 participants attending the 6-month basic military training at Margahayu airbase in 1958 but only 45 students were sent to Czechoslovakia. The names of all 46 students of the Basic Military Training for Officers Candidates in Margahayu, Class of '58 is listed separately.   Click HERE  to check it out.