 In July 1966, the position of Deputy Army Commander was created and Panggabean was appointed to the position to assist Suharto with his increasing workload.In 1967, Panggabean became Army Commander himself.As Army Commander, Panggabean witnessed a reorganization in the Indonesian National Armed Forces which saw the armed services commanders be reduced in status to chief of staffs under the control of an Army commander, a position to be filled by Suharto himself.