Red and White Cooperative Manager Trainees Allowed Phone Access Once a Week After Deaths

For three weeks, Red and White Cooperative (Kopdes) manager trainee Langgeena Salehane was only able to communicate with her family twice while undergoing military basic training. The 23-year-old said the restriction on mobile phones was strict, with participants required to surrender their devices. “Until now, our mobile phones have been collected,” Gina said during a break in training activities in Jakarta on Tuesday, 30 June 2026. The programme’s nomenclature has since been changed from basic military training to national defence and managerial training.

Gina explained that at the start of the training, access to communication devices was extremely limited. All participants were prohibited from using personal gadgets for the entire 45-day education period. During this time, participants could only contact their families using a phone belonging to the instructors at the education unit. However, as the facility had to be shared, Gina only managed to speak with her family in Pekanbaru, Riau, twice in three weeks. “As far as I know, there is no limit on how many times you can call. But many people want to use the phone, and I feel sorry for the instructor if we keep asking repeatedly,” she said.

Gina felt some relief after the committee recently relaxed the rules, allowing participants to access their phones for one hour every weekend. This new policy took effect on Sunday, 28 June 2026. “Just starting yesterday, we could hold our phones from eight to nine in the evening, after the night roll call,” she said. For Gina, regular communication with her family is crucial to prevent them from worrying, especially as she has been in poor health during the training. The University of Riau environmental engineering graduate has suffered from scoliosis since 2025, a condition that often causes shortness of breath when she is overly fatigued.

Despite the challenges, Gina acknowledged that limiting phone access helps participants adapt to the rigorous training schedule. She believes that without mobile phones, trainees can better manage their rest time and participate fully in the next day’s activities. “If we have our phones, we might sleep too late and then wake up late. So, by having our phones collected, I think we become more disciplined,” she said.

Lieutenant Colonel Said Jauhari, Commander of the SPPI Education Unit at the Army Health Training Centre, explained that the decision to allow gadget access once a week was an evaluation by the committee following the deaths of several prospective cooperative managers. He stated that the policy was an instruction from Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in response to growing concerns from the trainees’ families. “Every week, we give them their phones for about an hour to communicate with their families,” Jauhari said in Jakarta on Tuesday. He noted that the schedule for phone use is flexible depending on field activities but is ensured to take place weekly. Jauhari stressed that the restriction on phone use is intended to maintain the participants’ focus during the training period. He highlighted that the predominantly Gen Z demographic of the participants makes controlling gadget use particularly important, as they tend to lose concentration when holding their phones.