[5] During the shakeup of the political elite during Gus Dur's presidency that led up to his impeachment, Ryamizard threatened to take action against whoever was trying to disturb the peace.

[6] As the Kostrad commander, he once led an alert call on 23 July 2001 during the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), leading and coordinating soldiers from all three branches of the armed forces.

On 20 February 2005, he led a delegation to oversee a bridge reconstruction after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami when he got ambushed by 20 rebel soldiers of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

[8][9] As both sides engaged, Ryamizard armed himself with a MP5 submachine gun and joined TNI soldiers in returning fire and pursuing GAM forces for 30 minutes.

[10] When this occurred, Ryamizard was on his final days of his tenure as he was scheduled to hand over his position to Lieutenant General Djoko Santoso at the end of February.

[13] His nomination as Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces was nullified by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who choose to extend Endriartono Sutarto's tenure.

[11] This rejection sparked a rumor of personal conflict between Ryamizard and Yudhoyono, which Abdurrahman Wahid speculated to be true.

[16][17] His vice presidential candidacy rumors surfaced once more when he was named one of the options for Joko Widodo's running mate,[18] although the choice ultimately went to Jusuf Kalla.

Hailing it as an achievement, Ryamizard pushed for advancements within the defense industry of Indonesia and rely less on foreign imports.