Three Fatalities in Military Training for Cooperative Managers, Defence Ministry Outlines Next Steps

The Ministry of Defence is paying close attention to the Basic Military Training programme after three prospective managers for the Red and White Village/Sub-District Cooperatives and Red and White Fishing Villages programme died whilst participating in the activity. The ministry stated it is ready to evaluate the training methods to ensure participant safety. The Ministry of Defence expressed its deepest condolences over the deaths of the three participants and confirmed the incident is being treated with the utmost seriousness. “Currently, the Ministry of Defence, together with the National Selection Committee and all organisers, is conducting a thorough evaluation of the programme’s implementation,” said the Head of the Defence Information Bureau, Brigadier General TNI Rico Ricardo Sirait, in a statement on Friday. Rico stated the evaluation of the military training targets health aspects from the initial selection stage through to the handling efforts when participants fall ill. “(The evaluation) particularly focuses on health selection aspects, medical supervision, early detection of participants’ health conditions, and procedures for handling participants who experience health problems,” Rico said. Regarding the implementation of the training, Rico stressed that in principle, this programme is part of a curriculum designed to shape character, discipline, integrity, leadership, cooperation, and a spirit of service. Rico denied the training was designed to produce soldiers.