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Reserve Component (Komponen Cadangan - Komcad)

The Ministry of Defense in 2008, issued four official documents related to defense doctrine, strategy and posture, as well as a new defense white paper. The Defense Doctrine document defined “total defense” as the total participation of national entities and resources – both military and non-military, organized into a core component, reserve component and supporting component. There are concerns that the implementation of the reserve component of the military will lead to the abuse of authority resulting in the recurrence of cases of human rights violations.

According to Brigadier General Budi Rachmat, SE (Dirkomcad Ditjen Pothan Kemhan) as conveyed in a Focus Group Discussion about the Reserve Component held by the Directorate Pothan Kemhan (21/3), to cover the shortage of military personnel, then it is necessary to recruit 160,000 people as the reserve component.

A yet-to-be-formed Reserve Component (Komponen Cadangan) and Supporting Component (Komponen Pendukung) are supposed to "enlarge and strengthen" the Indonesian Military (TNI). Political Law of Reserve Component from National Defense Law Perspective is a consideration based on Rule No.3 / 2002 about the National defense, in facing threats, National Army is placed as major component, reserve component and supporting component. Reserve component is a national defense component which consisted of all national resource which was prepared to be ordered through mobilization in order to make the ability and strength of major component.

The establishment of reserve component becomes an important part in the military system of a state. However, the reserve component in Indonesia is still not clear yet to be established, although, as an organization that has biggest personnel than the others. The Army has an interest to prepare the reserve component for support the regular components of the country's defense. Questions remained as to how the Army reserves component organization would be established, the composition and the number and distribution of the Army reserve component personnel.

The main provision of state defense is as provided in Article 30 UUD 1945 and is further regulated by the Act No. 20 year 1982 regarding General Provision on the Defense and Security of the Republic of Indonesia, which was amended by Act No. 3 year 2002 regarding State Defense. The concept of people’s participation in state defense and security system (sishankamrata) as stated in the previous Act was replaced by state defense system by the later Act. In order to implement this new Act, there has been an effort by government to propose a Bill regarding Reserve Component of the State Defense. Several important issues in the Bill are including the active involvement of civilian in the state defense. Moreover, member of the Reserve Component after being mobilized has a new status as combatant. Therefore, if the Bill regarding Reserve Component of the State Defense is approved by the Parliament and become an Act - and there is no significant modification to the provision on the status of civil citizen after being mobilized – it will be clear that every civilians who involve in state defense activity must then be treated as combatant.

Through 2009, the draft bills of Military Tribunal, State Secrecy, and Reserve Component were debated. These bills were made under government proposal, through the Department of Defense. Indonesia can adopt a system of conscription that applied by Singapore where selected civil servants and civilians must join reserve force or National Service. After attending basic training for a month, they can go back to their respective jobs. The reserve force is only used at any time required. Following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election in November 2009, the Indonesian National Defence Forces (TNI) have undergone several structural changes. Some of the new features also included the formation of a future Reserve Component.

The government consistently pushed for the ratification of the Reserve Component (komponen cadangan) Bill. Even after the rejections from the civil society and past period parliament, the government again delivered the draft of the bill to the House of Representatives in June 2010. Although the government denied that the reserve component was conscription (wajib militer), the substance of the Reserve Component Bill draft discussed in the parliament was not voluntary. Training for this reserve component would be arranged in each military area command (kodam), which will also record and organize this reserve component, in Indonesia.

The Defense Ministry had submitted the bill in 2007, but until 2009 legislators had not passed the bill into law. According to the bill draft, citizens who are older than 18 are obliged to participate in five-years of military duty under the condition they pass a number of tests and be on call until they are 45. If a citizen refuses to take part, they can be sentenced one or two years in jail.

Army Chief of Staff General Moeldoko stated that the Reserve Component Bill, whose draft was being discussed in the House, did not regulate conscription. "The definition [of reserve component] is entirely different." he said at Indonesian Army Headquarters, Jakarta, on 05 June 2013. Being on the list of 2013 national legislation program, the Defense Commission of House of Representatives was working on the draft of the said bill. Many parties were against it since one of its articles obliged conscription for specific circles. In addition, the House believed that the draft had yet to be a priority, as the main agenda for national defense was to upgrade the equipment of the armed forces.

Yet the general revealed that the ratio of the armed forces personnel to number of population and national area was unbalanced. Therefore, reserve component could be called up when necessary. "The reserve component will become additional force for national defense. The training could be focused on national defense skills, including combat."

Tubagus Hasanuddin, a deputy chairman of House Commission I, which oversees foreign and defense affairs, said 03 June 2013 that the Reserve Components Bill should be rejected on several points. The main argument against it, he said, was that with a standing military of 420,000 personnel and ongoing programs to upgrade weapons systems and improve soldiers’ welfare, there was no foreseeable military threat to the country in the next 10 or 15 years that would justify a draft. Hasanuddin, a former two-star Army general, also said that certain provisions in the bill, proposed by the Defense Ministry, came off as discriminative, including articles stipulating that the draft would only be applicable to civil servants, laborers and salaried workers. “What about entertainers and businesspeople? Why should they be exempted from the draft?” he said.

Director of Reserve Components of Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General Budi Rahmat stated 20 June 2013 that only those who are willing who will participate in the compulsory military service, in regards with the Reserve Component draft bill. "There is nothing to fear if one must attend conscription. Those who will participate the military training can do it voluntarily. Therefore there are no coercive factors. Those who participate will become reserve components of the national defense," he said. There would be several appraisals a candidate must undergo prior to becoming a reserve component. As for today, Indonesia is one of the countries which does not possess one. "Other countries have reserve components, whereas Indonesia doesn’t. With the component, we can anticipate any conflicts".

It was a grand vision and stated in the Constitution that the military consists of main and reserve components. It seemed that there was not enough background information to support the bill. For example, how are they going to finance it, will it be from the national budget or left to the local government to decide? How are they going to utilize the reserve? There were no set criteria for recruitment and training. Because it is arbitrary, it is potentially misused. It may be avoided with proper regulation, but the MOD was not able to produce the operational blueprint.

Though the Reserve and Supporting Defense Component Bills and the Military Conscript Bill, stipulated respectively in Article 8 and 9, were put on the list of a National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) for the legislative period of 2009–2014, there is still ambiguity over when they will be enacted.