Panggabean reached the pinnacle of his military career in 1973 when he became Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces in addition to becoming Minister of Defense and Security. As Commander, Panggabean had differences with Minister of Foreign Affairs Adam Malik in the way in which Indonesia should approach its foreign policy in South East Asia. Malik wanted ASEAN to only be about economic cooperation whilst Panggabean wanted ASEAN to also be about security cooperation. In addition, Panggabean also wanted to send troops to assist the South Vietnamese in the Vietnam War. On this matter, Suharto sided with Malik.