Government Cuts Down Soldiers Recruitment
Tuesday, 25 November, 2008 | 18:28 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Defense Department will cut down the recruitment of Indonesian Armed Forces members as an effort to comply with the defense budget which will be reduced to Rp 33 trillion from the previous Rp 36 trillion by next year.

"The Indonesian Armed Forces must adjust to the budget and the global recession," said Defense Department's secretary general, Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, following a budget coordination meeting at his office yesterday. According to him, the budget on staff operations currently takes half of the defense allocation, which is Rp 19 trillion.

Other than reducing recruitment, the meeting made a decision on two policies, namely to evaluate the needs and priority of officers, and to improve the facilitation of export credits. Sjafrie said the evaluation must refer to the needs according to the urgency and priority of cases. "We must be able to fulfill all of our needs according to the budget," he said.

Defense Planning director-general, Admiral Gunadi, said the reduction will not reduce the number of personnel and their performance significantly. "This is because since 2004, the retirement age has been extended," he said.

The retirement age for privates and non-commissioned officers is 53 years old, from the previous 48 years old, while officers retire at 58 years of age, from the previous 55 years old. According to Gunadi, reducing the numbers does not mean no recruitment at all.

Andi Widjojanto, an analyst with the Institute of Defense and Security Studies, said reducing the number of new recruits is normal. "The Indonesian Armed Forces has been doing it since 1967," Andi said. The reduction will not affect the strength of the Indonesian military.

According to Andi, almost all units have sufficient number of personnel. Moreover, the Indonesian Armed Forces have not been purchasing many armament in the past few years, hence they do not need additional personnel for their operation. "So, I think this is the appropriate policy," he said.

Sidhartho Danu Subroto, a member of the House of Representatives' Defense Commission, had a similar opinion. This Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle politician sees the recruitment reduction as a wise decision. "What the Indonesian Armed Forces need at the moment is basically to improve the main tools of the defense system," he said.

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