As a child he was called Bendol. Soeparto Tjirtodihardjo, his eldest brother, remembers him as a "a hard-headed boy who refused to humble himself." To the family, Bendol was full of surprises. In 1965, for instance, he ran away from home, distressing the whole family. Two months later he returned, with an invitation to his induction as a cadet with the National Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java.

As an army officer, Sutiyoso so disti