Air Force keeps its women feminine

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): She wanted to become a stewardess, but ended up an Air Force policewoman.

"I applied to Garuda Indonesia, but I failed. My aunt, who is in the Air Force, told me the force also has stewardesses and she suggested that I join the force," Ranny said.

Ranny, a high school graduate who had never thought about being a member of the Armed Forces, sent an application and was accepted.

"Maybe this is my destiny. Now that I have become a provost, I don't want to become a stewardess anymore," she said.

Sgt. Ranny, 22, is one of 10 Air Force policewomen, known here as provost.

Four of the women provost are deployed at the national Air Force Headquarters in Jakarta, two at the Halim Perdanakusuma air base in Jakarta, two at the Iswahyudi air base in Madiun, East Java, and two others at the Adi Sucipto air base in Yogyakarta.

Nine of the provost -- one was sick -- were in Jakarta to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Air Force at the Halim Perdanakusuma air base on Tuesday.

The women, most in their early 20s, all have different reasons for joining the Air Force. Policewomen Susilowati and Basiah joined for the discipline, and JB Adveni was interested in the physical exercise. Dwi, Nurhidayati, Rina, Titik and Indah all said Air Force members were "neat and cool".

"Since I was a kid, I wanted to join the Armed Forces. I lived near an Armed Forces housing complex in Surabaya and I saw how gorgeous the officers were in their uniforms. I loved to see them marching. They looked tall and strong," Dwi said.

Female provosts must be at least 156.5 cm tall -- 3.5 cm less than the minimum height requirement for national policewomen.

The women's four-month boot camp began in January 1994, at the Adi Sumarmo air base training center in Surakarta, Central Java. The 30 students learned basic military skills before being divided into career paths: the provost section, the administration section and the personnel section.

The top 10 students were selected as policewomen and were given another five months of special training. They learned how to guard airplanes and radar installments, and to keep order on air bases. They also took a one-month parachute course before undergoing investigation training for three months.

The Air Force had some female provost officers in the 1960s, but they were transferred to other departments. Only 30 years later were female provost recruited again.

Capt. Agung, head of the Adi Sumarmo air base training center, said the Air Force decided to recruit female policewomen to help investigate sex-related cases.

"Victims of such cases will be more open to female investigators," he argued.

He said female provosts are also needed to help screen recruits by checking if the newcomers have birthmarks or scars.

"We could not ask the females to strip, so we let them wear their panties and undershirts. But now that we have female provosts, they can help us do the screening," he said.

The officers must pass psychoanalysis, be healthy and be physically strong.

"They must be able to stand the heat. As you know, there are times when they have to stand in the field for hours under the sun," Agung said.

Maj. D. Pranajaya, provost marshal at the Halim Perdanakusuma air base, said that male and female provosts have basically the same job.

"I have to admit that no female provosts are on duty in the field at night. But in the future they will have to work at night, too," he said.

In addition to their routine, the female provosts guard dignitaries who visit the air bases. Each noncommissioned officer is armed with a Colt revolver.

They might soon begin cutting swaths through traffic with 500 cc Harley Davidsons to open the way for privileged guests.

"That's cool. I'd love that," one female provost said.

There are about 1,000 provost in the Air Force. More than 120 of them work at Halim Perdanakusuma, the main Indonesian air base. There are 20,000 people in the Air Force, a small number compared to the nation's total Armed Forces of 448,000.

Similarly, there are 5,000 national policewomen but only 800 women in the Air Force. Another 800 women serve in the Navy and 2,000 women belong to the Army.

The Army and the Navy also have female provosts, but very few when compared to the male officers.

As with all women in the Armed Forces, the single provost must live in dormitories.

In Jakarta, a big dormitory near the Halim Perdanakusuma air base houses the single female members of the Air Force. About 150 women live in the dorm.

"Every morning we have breakfast at 5:30 a.m. At 6 a.m. we are taken to our office at the national Air Force Headquarters. The work finishes at 3 p.m. Usually we have arrived at the dorm by 4 p.m.," Titik said.

They usually work out or play sports in the afternoon.

They are allowed to receive guests until 10 p.m.

"If we want to go out, we have to tell the one on picket in our dorm," she said.

Anyone who wants to spend the night outside the dorm must ask permission from the head of the dorm.

Most women in the Air Force are based in Jakarta.

Nurhayati said she shared the Air Force dorm in Yogyakarta with 13 other single women.

"In our dorm, the guests have to leave at 9 p.m.," she said.

Susilowati, from the Madiun air base, said there were only six single women in her boarding house. Visiting hours end at 9:30 p.m.

Cosmetics

The provosts are paid Rp 250,000 a month, which includes a meal allowance and a "cosmetics allowance".

"The special allowance is provided for all women in the Armed Forces to keep them feminine," spokesman of the Air Force, Col. Atmadji, said.

Lt. Col. Roekmini, who is in charge of the development of women in the Air Force, said that women in the military should not forget that they are women. They must wear makeup unless they are in the field.

"They have to wear makeup, but not heavy. For lipstick, the best color is the same as the lip. They mustn't use purple lipstick," she explained.

She said they are not allowed to wear accessories like earrings, necklaces and bracelets, or paint their nails.

Both policewomen who made general, Brig. Gen. Jeanne Mandagi and Brig. Gen. Roekmini Koesoema Astoeti, are now retired. Currently, the highest ranking woman Air Force officer is a colonel.

"We don't have a female general now, but who knows? We might have one in the near future," Lt. Col. Roekmini said.

The Air Force stopped recruiting women in 1966. It did not recruit another woman for 10 years.

"I don't know why they did not recruit women in those years. If they did, we could have had some female generals in the Air Force now," Roekmini said.

Roekmini and 11 other women joined the force in 1976.

Roekmini said the Air Force employs 10 air hostesses to serve officials on board its planes.

"We used to have 14 stewardesses, but some stopped after they are married. Stewardesses often have to spend the night out of town and their husbands might object," she said.

Roekmini said the Air Force could ask them to hostess again if they were really needed. Preference is given to single women.

"That is in accordance with Air Force policy," she said.

Policy also limits women to non-combat roles. Therefore, the seven female pilots are not allowed to fly fighters, like Indonesia's F-16s. They are allowed to fly troops into combat areas.

"The pilots don't fly fighters, but I believe that they are as capable as their male counterparts. They would be able to fly the fighters if they got the chance," Roekmini said.