You don't usually expect a retail management job to require ducking live fire or marching under a blistering sun until you pass out. But in Indonesia, nearly 35,000 future shop and cooperative managers found themselves doing exactly that.
President Prabowo Subianto wanted to inject a massive dose of military discipline into his flagship economic plan. The goal was to train a new army of managers to run 80,000 "Red and White Cooperatives" across the country, selling basic goods, subsidized gas, and fertilizer to spark an ambitious 8% economic growth rate. Instead, the initiative hit a tragic wall. Five civilian trainees died in the first two weeks of a grueling 45-day boot camp.
This disaster highlights a fundamental mistake that many leaders make. You can't just copy-paste military combat training into civilian business operations and expect corporate efficiency.
The Dangerous Myth of Military Discipline in Retail
When things go wrong in business, executives love to call for more discipline. They want employees to act like soldiers, follow orders without question, and move with clockwork precision. It sounds great in a board room. In reality, it can be lethal.
The 45-day training program began on June 14 at various regional military bases. The Ministry of Defense claimed the activities weren't strenuous and that everyone passed a medical screening. Yet, between June 17 and June 26, five participants lost their lives.
- Yonanda Muhammad Taufiq suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on day three.
- Anisa Muyassaroh died from severe heat stroke during field exercises.
- Novia Rahmadhani Sihotang succumbed to complications from tuberculosis.
- Muhammad Rifki Renaldi Gunawan and Nola Dya Sari died from severe lung infections and sudden cardiac failure.
The victims weren't seasoned commandos. They were regular citizens with normal health histories, including struggles with high blood pressure and obesity. Forcing them into an environment designed for elite soldiers didn't build character. It broke their bodies.
Human rights groups and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) quickly stepped in, demanding an immediate end to the madness. They pointed out the obvious flaw. Cooperatives and retail shops are economic institutions. They thrive on financial literacy, inventory tracking, community trust, and customer service. Marching in formation doesn't help a manager balance a ledger or spot a supply chain bottleneck.
The Retraction and the Real Cost of Soft Skills
Facing massive public backlash, the government scrambled to salvage the project. The Defense Ministry officially stripped the basic military tactics, shooting drills, and intense physical conditioning from the curriculum. They refocused the remaining weeks on civic defense, leadership, and standard business management.
It shouldn't take five deaths to realize that running a grocery store requires a different skillset than holding a perimeter.
If you are trying to build a resilient, high-performing team in a civilian market, military boot camps shouldn't be your blueprint. True operational discipline in a retail or business environment looks entirely different.
Focus on Cognitive Load Over Physical Endurance
A retail manager doesn't need to survive on rations. They need to manage high stress when a supplier defaults or a customer is furious. Train your people's minds, not their muscles. Give them complex situational simulations, not forced marches.
Build Psychological Safety
Military structures rely on a strict top-down hierarchy where questioning an order can mean a court-martial. In business, you want the exact opposite. If a frontline employee sees a major financial error or a safety hazard, they must feel completely safe speaking up immediately. A culture of fear leads to hidden mistakes and eventual collapse.
Prioritize Technical Competence
A great store manager understands data, profit margins, local market demands, and human empathy. Spending weeks learning how to salute or handle a weapon takes valuable time away from the actual tools needed to keep a business afloat.
Prabowo's administration is still pushing forward with the scaled-back cooperative project, hoping to hit their economic targets. But the lesson for the broader business world is crystal clear. True organizational strength isn't built by forcing people into uniform boxes. It's built by equipping them with the specific, practical skills they need to survive the market, not the battlefield.
If you're looking to upgrade your team's operational discipline, ditch the boot camp ideas. Start auditing your training programs today. Ensure you are measuring performance by actual business outcomes, communication fluidity, and financial literacy rather than arbitrary metrics of compliance. Split your training into distinct tracks for hard analytical skills and soft leadership capabilities. Give your managers the tools to solve modern commercial problems, because fear and physical compliance will never buy you a better bottom line.
