Kemhan Affirms Komcad Not Military Conscription But Voluntary

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Defense (Kemhan) confirmed that the reserve component troops (Komcad) were not conscripted into the military because they joined voluntarily.

"Therefore, members of the Komcad who are inactive or not on duty remain as civilians who can carry out their respective professions," said the Public Relations Bureau of the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Defense as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, October 12.

However, in a war situation, reserve components can be deployed if there is an order from the President of the Republic of Indonesia with the approval of the DPR RI. The military activities of the reserve components are also fully controlled by the TNI Commander. Reserve components will be active or on duty as they participate in training and mobilization.

The Ministry of Defense explained that the formation of reserve components is a follow-up to legal orders, including Law no. 3 of 2002 concerning National Defense and Law no. 23 of 2019 concerning National Resource Management (PSDN).

"State defense is carried out by the government which is prepared early in the Universal People's Defense and Security System (Sishankamrata)," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The Universal People's Defense and Security System involves human resources, natural resources, artificial resources, as well as national facilities and infrastructure.

"The state defense system in the face of military threats places the Indonesian National Army as the main component, which is supported by reserve components and supporting components," said the Ministry of Defense.

Related to that, the Ministry of Defense said that it is responsible for preparing spare components as regulated by the PSDN Law.

The Ministry of Defense together with other relevant agencies also held a number of stages, including registration, selection, basic military training, and determination. The selection stage includes examination of administrative and competency files, which consists of a health test, insight and ability test, and attitude.

There are at least 3,103 reserve component members who have been directly inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo in Batujajar, Bandung, West Java, on October 7, 2021.

Thousands of people have undergone basic military training at Rindam III/Siliwangi, Rindam IV/Diponegoro, Rindam V Brawijaya, and Rindam XII/Tanjungpura.

"Reserve components that have been inaugurated are given a rank referring to the classification of TNI ranks. This rank is only used during the active period of the reserve components," said the Public Relations Bureau of the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Defense.

The ministry further explained that reserve component members are also entitled to receive pocket money during training, operating allowances during mobilization, health care, work accident insurance protection, death insurance, and other awards.