ABRI revamps career system to lure college grads
JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) has revamped its career development system to encourage more university graduates to consider the military as a career.
Maj. Gen. Mansyur, assistant to the chief of ABRI's General Affairs, said yesterday that the military hopes to recruit a total of 2,300 people to join its officer training program this year.
Some 1,000 of these positions will be filled by cadets from AKABRI, the military academy, and the other 1,300 should be filled by graduates from other colleges and universities, Mansyur announced.
Some of these recruits are expected to develop their working careers in ABRI until they reach retirement age while others are expected to stay for five or 10 years.
The new career development system will be more open in nature, according equal opportunity to every recruit, whether they attended the AKABRI or not, he said at ABRI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. "Everyone will have the same opportunity to fill in various key ABRI posts, from field commanders to the chief of ABRI," he said.
This year's application period will remain open until Sept. 27.
ABRI is diversifying the sources of its recruits in order to improve the quality of its personnel.
"ABRI needs many scholars from various disciplines," he said.
The rigid career development system in ABRI is believed to have been the prime reason why university graduates have shunned a career in the military all this time.
In the past, the military has had difficulty recruiting enough university graduates. Even many of those who applied to join failed to pass the rigorous test.
Selective
Mansyur said the recruits for the officer training program will be given basic military knowledge and training. The men will be educated and trained at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java and the women at the Army's Women Command College in Bandung, West Java.
At the completion of their education, those who pass will be given the rank of second lieutenant.
Mansyur said that ABRI will continue to be selective in its recruitment. "Applicants must not only possess good physical and mental health and pass the attitude and academic tests, they must also come from 'good families,'" he said.
He stressed that they have to undergo special screening, which includes testing whether they have been "influenced" by communist or other alien ideologies.
Asked about the rampant operation of middlemen offering "to fix" a seat in the officers' training program, Mansyur said the military was aware of the situation.
He stressed that military does not charge anything for people who want to join the military service.
He pointed out that in the past many of these brokers have been sent to court.
A seat in the officers' training program reportedly can fetch as much as Rp 10 million ($4,700.) (rms)