House Member: Defence Ministry's Evaluation of Basic Military Training a Sound Decision

Member of Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Oleh Soleh stated that the Ministry of Defence’s move to evaluate the basic military training (latsarmil) programme for prospective village cooperative and fishermen cooperative managers was a sound decision. According to him, the ministry’s decision to halt the latsarmil programme and replace it with state defence and managerial training demonstrates the government’s responsiveness to public input. “We appreciate and support the Defence Ministry’s move to evaluate and discontinue the latsarmil programme and replace it with state defence and managerial education. This is a sound and responsive decision to the various inputs and evaluations that have emerged,” he said in a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday. However, he emphasised that state defence education remains important as part of character building, discipline, and the spirit of service to the nation. The material must be tailored to the needs of the participants. “State defence and managerial education is very much needed. Besides building character and a sense of patriotism, the programme also does not overburden prospective village cooperative managers so they can focus on preparing themselves to carry out their duties in the field,” he said. Oleh cautioned that the changes made by the Defence Ministry should not be limited to merely renaming the programme. The substance, learning methods, and training system also need to be improved and aligned with the goal of developing human resources for cooperative management. “The evaluation must be carried out comprehensively so that the training is more effective, relevant to the participants’ needs, and most importantly, no longer causes fatalities,” he said. Previously, the Defence Ministry discontinued the latsarmil for participants of the Sarjana Penggerak Pembangunan Indonesia (SPPI) programme, who are prospective managers of the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperatives and Merah Putih Fishermen Cooperatives. “The Defence Ministry is adjusting the activity approach. The terminology and implementation of the current activities are directed towards state defence and managerial training, no longer latsarmil,” said Head of the Defence Information Bureau at the Defence Ministry’s Secretariat General, Brigadier General TNI Rico Ricardo Sirait, on Monday (29/6). The change was made after Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin evaluated the learning system, following an incident in which five latsarmil participants died. With this evaluation, physical activities and military-related training will be reduced. “Including shooting activities, which are no longer part of the current training. The focus of activities is directed towards building discipline, character, leadership, cooperation, responsibility, national insight, and the managerial readiness of participants as prospective cooperative managers,” Rico explained.