A member of the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, Maj. Gen. (ret) Supiadin Aries Saputra, has praised the government'€™s plan to recruit 100 million personnel for Indonesia'€™s Defending the State program within the next 10 years.

The program, which was proposed by Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, must be differentiated from wamil (compulsory military service), he added.

'€œIt'€™s not military service,'€ Supiadin said as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday. He was speaking at the House complex in Jakarta on Monday evening.

Supiadin said the Defending the State concept would be based on military exercises, during which the spirits of patriotism and love of the Fatherland would be planted in every citizen attending the exercises.

'€œThey will be trained to be disciplined and to have a sense of solidarity and unity,'€ the lawmaker said, adding that all participants would also be given marching trained.

Supriadin clarified that wamil, on the other hand, was training provided to citizens as preparation for war. In wamil, all participants do military exercises, studying combat tactics and techniques, as well as military basic training.

Commission I deputy chairman Hanafi Rais has expressed appreciation for Ryamizard'€™s Defending the State plan. He said providing training for defending the state was needed, especially to anticipate the emergence of traditional and non-traditional threats.

'€œThis idea is good and should not be misinterpreted as more compulsory military service,'€ he said.

Hanafi said the Defending the State concept should be added to the school curriculum, either as a general or specialist subject. In the general curriculum, Defending the State could focus on the importance of applying the Wawasan Nusantara (archipelagic outlook) in every strategic decision making process.

'€œMeanwhile, Defending the State as part of the specialist curriculum could be varied according to the background professions of each participant,'€ said Hanafi.

He suggested that the concept could be enriched with a Peace Corps program like in the US, thus, Defending the State would not only be oriented toward defense and security but would also be relevant to national and individual economic development. (ebf)(++++)

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