“Upon graduation, they will be sworn in and given ranks according to the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) rank structure. Junior high school graduates will become enlisted soldiers (tamtama), high school graduates will be non-commissioned officers (bintara), and university graduates will be commissioned officers,” Minister of Transmigration Muhammad Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara said during a send-off ceremony at the Ministry’s office in Jakarta on Wednesday.
After completing the training, the Komcad participants will return to their respective transmigration areas to strengthen regional defense, both in emergency situations such as war and natural disasters.
“We have experienced major disasters in Aceh in the past, which required extensive military involvement. Therefore, we want the reserve components to be ready to respond to disaster emergencies,” he explained.
Iftitah emphasized that the reserve components are not intended to promote militarism but are part of the constitutional mandate under Article 30 of the 1945 Constitution concerning National Defense.
The formation of these defense components also reflects that transmigration today goes beyond population relocation or labor placement; it aims to build resilient communities.
In this program, Kementrans collaborates with the Ministry of Defense’s National Reserve Agency to form a battalion of reserve components from the transmigration sector. Besides local communities, Kementrans employees will also participate to foster strong ties with transmigrants.
Iftitah confirmed that over 93 percent of the participants in the first wave of Komcad selection are local transmigrants, alleviating concerns about potential cultural conflicts.
“Do not imagine these participants coming from Java relocating elsewhere. Most are local transmigrants, so we expect a strong local resilience in each region. Hence, there is no need to worry about cultural friction or other issues,” he said.
The first wave of Komcad participants comes from various regions, including 27 from South Papua, 68 from Central Kalimantan-Sukamara, 32 from Lampung, 34 from West Sulawesi, 50 from East Sumba, 20 from North Buton, and 15 from Aceh.
From Java, there are 2 participants from West Java, 2 from Central Java, 3 from East Java, and 1 from Banten.
Due to high public interest, the Ministry is preparing a second wave of recruitment, Iftitah added.
“There will be a second wave in the next two weeks given many requests from transmigration offices based on feedback from transmigrants who want to join following the announcement of the first Komcad selection,” he said.
Related news: Defense Ministry inaugurates 787 reserve component members
Translator: Bayu, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Primayanti
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