Perseverant Amid Limitations in Loyalty to “Striped Uniform” Corps

Being a TNI soldier does not only require toughness in training to be ready to face battle. With their welfare still limited, they and their families also face a test of patience.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

A soldier at his home at the TNI AD soldier's flat in Cililitan, East Jakarta, Tuesday (6/9/2022).

Living under limited conditions in the line of tough duty, Second Corporal Muhammad Husni (35) refuses to buckle down. He may need better income to support the household, but never once has a thought crossed his mind about looking for a new livelihood at the expense of his status as a member of the Indonesian Air Force. He remains faithful to the striped uniform battalion.

With a smile on his face, he looked proudly at his dress uniform, on the upper arm perched a red V epaulet. His mind drifted back to his childhood three decades back, recalling his parents asking him about what he aspired to achieve in the future. "I wanted to become a soldier. [It does not matter] whether the Army, Navy or Air Force. The important thing was to wear the striped uniform," he said in mid-September. He was on duty as a member of Battalion 461 of the Indonesian Air Force's Rapid Action Forces (Kopasgat).

Like many other low-ranked soldiers, he has yet to receive lodging facility. He is still settling in a rental house in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, with his wife and two children, who are still in elementary school. He wishes they lived in a housing facility, which would spare him from paying Rp 1.5 million (US$98.65) monthly for rent. The amount accounts for 30 percent of his salary.

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Husni said the sum, after being deducted for rent payment, fell far short of covering their daily needs, including electricity bills. To help ease the household burden, they have relied on another income source, selling food by converting a space in their rented house into a small food stall tended by his wife.

The food stall takes in Rp 100,000 in daily turnover with a net profit in the range of Rp 30,000 and Rp 40,000. "It's quite helpful for our children’s pocket fee to school," he said.

Husni was thankful that his wife was willing to help out in the household’s economic sustenance because as a soldier, he is prohibited from engaging in business, as regulated in Article 2 Letter d of Law No. 34/2004 on National Military (TNI).

Military lodging facility

Like Husni, Second Corporal Niki Lauda Marines, who is enlisted in the Navy tamtama (lowest level in Indonesia’s hierarchal ranking system), harbored childhood dreams of becoming a soldier to follow in the footsteps of his father. He took it as a challenge that he had to come to terms with the limited living facility. He has been assigned to the Navy’s information service center in Jakarta since 2009. Unlike Husni, he has lodged in the official residence for the past three years.

He said he used to live in a barrack with fellow soldiers. He left it after he got married in 2015. Because a vacant lodging house was not available yet, he had to rent a house. It cost him Rp 1 million per month, which he said was almost 25 percent of his payroll.

To get a turn to move into an official residence, Niki had to be patient in waiting for an official call as well as relying on a comradery relationship. In 2019, he received information from a fellow soldier about a lodging house being vacated by the retired occupant. He immediately contacted the retiree about his intention to live in it.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Corporal Niki Lauda Marines and his family live at the Indonesian Navy's official residence in Ciangsana Village, Gunung Putri, Bogor, West Java, Saturday (17/9/2022).

As agreed, he had had to pay the former occupant Rp 30 million as compensation for the incurred maintenance cost, before he and his family moved in. Located in Ciangsana village, Gunung Putri district, Bogor regency, West Java, it is the official residential compound of the Navy Headquarters Office.

Although it was a costly lodging, Niki said the money was worth it. “Now, we feel more comfortable in the official house. It helps a lot because it saves a little bit [of spending]. Living in a rental house, we would still be thinking about paying the fee every month," he said.

Occupying the official house, I no longer have to pay for the accommodation. We set aside the money for children's education.

It can also be attributed to the value of patriotism that encouraged Second Corporal Haris Aditya (35), as a National Army member, to persevere when it came to expectations regarding living facilities. He could finally move into an official residential house in 2018, five years after he had lived in a rented house during his service. The army’s official residence is in Cililitan, Jakarta.

“Occupying the official house, I no longer have to pay for the accommodation. We set aside the money for children's education,” said the father of three.

He was once part of Indonesia’s United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo, Africa, which he said contributed to building up his patriotism. The overseas experience, he said, made him more aware about the threat of separatist movement and inter-tribal wars to national security and sovereignty.

Nationalism calling

If it was not for the calling of the spirit of nationalism, First Marshal Elianto Susetio, who is the Air Force’s human resource division’s assistant manager, said that it would be hard for someone to get into military services. He said he had been through difficult times and had served in a number of areas with minimal facilities before he achieved his officer rank.

With limited facilities, he said, soldiers might be tempted to take money as kickbacks for the acts they were aware were violating the law. He disclosed at least 400 Air Force soldiers had been dishonorably discharged for violating the law as of this year.

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Army Chief of Staff General Dudung Abdurachman did not deny a number of soldiers having been involved in criminal acts. He reminded the soldiers, as state servants, about the Sapta Marga oath, which should serve as guidance to uphold the dignity of soldiers and honor the loyalty to the state and nation.

Centra Initiative Al Araf managing board chairman urged the Defense Ministry to pay more heed to the welfare of military personnel, including the provision of official residences. He specifically pointed out recruitment of reserve components, which, he said, absorbing Rp 1 trillion of annual budget, should be relinquished as non-priority program.

"If the budget is allocated to improve the welfare of soldiers, the professionalism of the national military will also improve," he said.

This article was translated by Musthofid.