Pregnant Women Continue Military Training for Village Cooperative Manager Programme

Wahyuni Fitri and Berlianti Hasibuan, two prospective managers for the Red and White Village Cooperative (Kopdes Merah Putih), were in the early stages of pregnancy when they began basic military training at the Indonesian Army Health Service Education Centre in East Jakarta. The two women from Riau were only five weeks pregnant when they first entered the military barracks on 14 June 2026. Their pregnancies have now progressed to between eight and nine weeks. “As of this week, it is the eighth week,” Wahyuni said during a break in training activities in Jakarta on Tuesday, 30 June 2026. She recounted that she only discovered she was pregnant after being declared eligible for the prospective manager training programme. During the health examination as part of the selection process, her pregnancy had not yet been detected. “At the time of the health test, the pregnancy was not known. It was only discovered after the graduation announcement. We checked ourselves,” Wahyuni said. After learning of her pregnancy, Wahyuni discussed the matter with her husband before deciding to proceed with the training. She said the decision was made because she had already passed the lengthy selection stages and had been declared a graduate. “I had already taken the tests stage by stage, it was a long process, and this was the final determinant of graduation, so I still came,” she stated. A similar reason drove Berlianti to travel to Jakarta for the basic military training despite being pregnant for the first time. The 30-year-old admitted she was initially worried her pregnancy would prevent her from continuing her status as a prospective cooperative manager. She then informed the organisers of her condition before departing for the training. “We then discussed it, and it turned out there was a point stating that if there were health problems, they could be reported,” Berlianti said. During nearly three weeks of training at the military education unit, Wahyuni and Berlianti said they had not encountered significant obstacles. Both were given dispensation from participating in physical field exercises. During training activities, they only observed the drills without taking part in physical activities. Additionally, both were given the flexibility to rest if they felt tired during the activities. “We still observe the training process, but we are not included in the physical activities,” Wahyuni said. The two pregnant women decided to continue the TNI-organised training despite being offered the chance to go home after an evaluation last week. Wahyuni said she was reluctant to stop halfway, having already completed half of the training series before being officially inaugurated as a cooperative manager. “Besides, we are also given leniency and attention here,” she said. Previously, the Ministry of Defence stated that the selection committee and programme organisers had never restricted the participation of pregnant women from the outset, allowing those who passed to continue to the final recruitment stage. However, following a series of deaths of SPPI participants during basic military training, the Ministry of Defence evaluated the programme’s implementation. One result of the evaluation was the repatriation of 32 pregnant participants from various education units. Head of the Human Resources Development Agency at the Ministry of Defence, Major General Ketut Gede Wetan Pastia, said the repatriation was carried out considering the development of the participants’ health conditions and for humanitarian reasons.