ASEAN ARMIES SHOULD FACE REGIONAL THREATS WITH
PROFESSIONALISM, SAYS GEN. RYAMIZARD

Indonesian National Army Chief of Staff, General Ryamizard Ryacudu, has said the ASEAN armies are aware of regional threats including possible terrorist acts against the Southeast Asian countries, and therefore the armies of the grouping should face them with professionalism.

Thus, the ASEAN Armies Riffle Meet (AARM) with solidarity and professionalism as the theme, was expected to in-crease cooperation and brotherhood as well as quality and skill of shooting among ASEAN member countries,General Ryamizard said when closing the 14th AARM here Wednesday.

The 14th AARM which was hosted by the Indonesian National Army from September 1 to 8, 2004, in Cilodong, West Java, was participated in by the armies of the ten ASEAN member countries — Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thai-land, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam.

On the occasion, Ryamizard called on the winners of 14th AARM could maintain their best performance while those who lost at the shooting championship would continue to train harder in the hope they could improve their performance in the next AARM which is expected to be held in Brunei Darussalam.

The 14th AARM was also expected to increase mutual understanding and respect among the soldiers of the ASEAN member countries, the Indonesian general said, adding that differences among the ASEAN members should not hamper the effort to maintain brotherhood and solidarity among them.

On the occasion, Ryamizard also expressed gratitude to the organizing committee which has made the 14th AARM possible and the neighboring countries which have supported Indonesia in organizing the event.

Before the closing ceremony, Ryamizard and other ASEAN army chiefs of staff took part in a number of matches including the pistol novelty shoot and rifle novelty shoot. At the two events, Ryamizard's team — Gen. Ryamizard (Indonesia), Lt. Gen. Kyaw Win (Myanmar),
Lt..Gen. Efren L Abu (the Philippines), Maj.Gen. Desmon Kuek (Singapore) and Maj.Gen. Nguyen Nang Nguyen (Vietnam) — emerged as the winner.

Meanwhile, At the 14th AARM, the Indonesian contingent emerged as the overall champion from a number of shooting events including the invidual carbine match, the team carbine matcch, machine gun matches (indidual and team), women's pistol matches (individual and team) and team rifle match.