Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) Mysore Experience

I was in my seventh semester of college and my friends and fellow classmates were all busy with their preparation for placements and higher studies, sitting with Aptitude books and preparing their resumes and SOPs. I somehow was not interested in both. I was always fascinated by planes and admired them when they flew above the sky. I spoke about my admiration of planes to a senior of mine who was then undergoing training with the Indian Air Force. I was inspired by his speech which had been like the beginning of my career. I applied for the Air Force Common Admission Test or AFCAT 2/2014. This entrance test happens twice a year which is the entry test for candidates willing to join the Air Force. The portions were quite a lot but the exam was easy. This test takes place at any of the Air Force Stations you have preferred in the application form. The test was for 2 hours and had 100 questions. I cleared the exam and was asked to report at one of the selection boards among Mysore, Varanasi, Dehradun and Gandhi Nagar. There were convenient dates and I chose to report at the Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) Mysore on the 15th of December.

The Mysore center was called ‘2 AFSB’. This selection procedure goes on for 6 days and is the same for Army, Navy and Coast Guard except that they call it SSB which means Service Selection Board.
DAY 1:
It was the 15th of December and I woke up at 5 so that I would report on time. The reporting time was 6:45 at the Railway Station. My father and I arrived there well before 6:30 only to see a bunch of girls like me, either with their parents or alone carrying huge luggage. Mine was a girls batch with 185+ people. There was a military truck to carry all our luggage and 2 buses to take us to the selection board. I hopped into one of these and bid my father goodbye. The selection board was 10 minutes from the station. I had already made friends with some girls in the bus. On arriving at the selection board, we were asked to deposit our mobile phones in a brown bag (They would return it only when going back). We were asked to proceed to a hall and asked to fill some forms for our Travelling Allowance (TA). Breakfast was provided to all 187 of us and the first test of the selection began. It was called Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) test which had some verbal and non-verbal questions. We were given 35 minutes for 80 questions. After this, we were assigned chest numbers according to our date of birth from the youngest to the eldest. My no. was 9.
The second test was called the Picture Perception and Description Test (PP&DT).A hazy picture was shown to us and were asked to write a story within 4 minutes on whatever comes to our mind at that moment. We were then divided into groups of 15 and had to narrate our story to 3 testing officers. We then had to discuss our stories and come up with the best one within the stipulated time. We couldn’t finish the discussion though! Then lunch was provided and the results were announced after an hour. Only those who get selected here will stay on for the remaining 5 days and the rest had to go back. I was so thrilled to hear my number being called out. 72 of us were screened in and our documents were verified. My new chest number was 4. We filled up certain forms including the Personal Information Questionnaire(PIQ) which would we verified during our interview.We were allocated rooms (10 per room) in a building named ‘AASHIYANA’ which means comfortable stay. The stay was comfortable indeed!

As we did not have our mobile phones, there was a phone booth with 2 phones for 72 people! There were 4 computers for browsing and we had to stand in big queues waiting for our turns to inform our parents. The stay and food were for free. The mess was named ‘TRUPTI’ which means satisfied! The mess had huge photos of MiGs, Sukhois and the Air Force Academy. There was also a big poster on the history of the IAF with pictures of various aircrafts during each war. Even if one had come there by compulsion, I’m sure they would have been truly inspired by the way things are organized there.
The selection board campus was very clean and there were placards everywhere with motivational quotes. There was a recreation room with Carrom, Table Tennis, Chess, TV, etc. The person in-charge was Wing Commander Krishna. He was one of the nicest persons I’ve ever seen. He attends to each and every one of us at all times with care. Dinner was at 8 PM and we had our roll call at 9. He was there right on time and enquired about the food and arrangements.
DAY 2:
We were woken up by the speakers in every room playing ‘Vande Maataram’ and other patriotic songs. It was hard for me to wake up at 5 in that cold Mysore weather. Bed tea/coffee was served at 5:30 and breakfast was at 6:30. We were to assemble for our roll call in front of the Aashiyana building at 7:10 and report to the testing center at 7:15. This procedure was followed for all the 6 days. I had my Pilot Aptitude Battery Test(PABT) that morning as I had applied for the Flying Branch of the IAF. To become a pilot with the Air Force, one has to take this test compulsorily. This is once-in-a-lifetime test and its result is valid throughout our career. Girls who did not take up flying branch had the morning off. The test had 2 parts- Written and Simulator. Only those who clear the written part were qualified to appear for the Flight Simulator. I gave my best to clear the written part. The result of the simulator test was announced only on the final day.
After lunch, all 72 of us were present in the testing hall for Psychological Tests. The first test was Thematic Apperception Test(TAT) where 12 slides of pictures were shown one after the other for 30 seconds each and we were asked to write a story for 4 minutes. The next was Word Association Test(WAT), where, 60 wordds are displayed for 15 seconds each and we were asked to make sentences using each word. The test that followed was Situation Reaction Test(SRT). 60 situations were given for a time of 30 minutes and we were asked to react to those. The last test was Self-Description Test(SDT) and we were asked to describe ourselves from our parents, teachers and friends’ point of view and also what we wanted to be in the future. The time alloted was 10 minutes. After these tests, we went back to our hostel.
There was a ‘motivation room’ which contained books-both fiction and defence books, newspapers, magazines, a fish tank, ranks and badges of the officers, aircraft models, posters, pictures of the Air Chief Marshals, etc. I used to spend some time there and discuss the current issues with my friends there.
DAY 3:
We were divided into groups of 9 and were dressed in white for our Group Task(GT). We proceeded to the GT ground at 7:15 in the morning instead of the testing hall. Only 4 groups had their GT that day and the remaining girls either had interview or were free. Our Group Testing Officer(GTO) was Wing Commander Bharat. Our first test was the Group Discussion(GD). 2 topics were given and we spoke for 5 minutes on each topic. After the GD was the Group Planning Exercise(GPE). A situation was given along with the model of a village and we had to write down the solution for it. We were then asked to combine all our ideas and come up with the best solution.
After the Indoor activities, the first Outdoor activity was the Progressive Group Task(PGT). There was a start line and a finish line and we were given helping materials like a rope, plank, etc and were asked to bridge some structures in between and use them to reach the finish line. The allocated time was 45 minutes. Next was Half-Group Task(HGT) which had the same procedure as PGT with half the number of people. The next race was called Snake Race and we had to cross 6 obstacles like jumping on a wall, passing through a hanging tyre, etc carrying a huge snake-like object. We competed with other groups and each group had a war-cry. Ours was ‘Vande Maataram’ and we came 2nd. The main aim of the race was not to win it but to see how we help others in the group and assist them.
The last test was the Lecturette. We had to choose a topic among 4, prepare for 3 minutes and give a speech for another 3 minutes. We were so tired after this long day and went back to our hostel.
DAY 4:
The fourth day started again with GT but this time it was not a group task but individual ones. The first test was called Command Task(CT). One person has to command 2 helpers and complete a particular physical task and reach the finish line. Our GTO was very friendly and even if we did not come up with a solution, he helped us. The final physical task was the Individual Obstacles. We had to finish 7 tasks in 3 minutes which included climbing on a ramp, walking on a rope, monkey-crawling, rope-climbing, etc.
After 2, we were allowed to go outside but report back before 8 in the night. A group of 15 of us went to the Mysore Palace and to the Garuda Mall that day.
DAY 5:
Many of the girls were free that day but I had my Personal Interview(PI). My interview went on for 45-50 minutes and was more of an informal one. The Interviewing Officer(IO) was friendly and calm and listened patiently to all my answers.
That day again, 13 of us went out to an exhibition nearby. It was an amazing experience to go on rides and to eat the roadside food there. We came back before 8 and had our dinner. This was our last night in the selection board together and we made a plan to celebrate. A group of 20 of us went to the recreation room and started dancing to Bollywood music! Since most of the girls were from the north, I taught them tamil folk dance and they loved it!
DAY 6:
This was our final day and after the conference, the results were to be announced. We packed our bags and went for the conference. This was another informal meeting with all the Selection Board members(about 20 officers). It was for less than 2 minutes and then we waited in the testing hall.
The PABT results were announced first and I cleared it! I was so very happy. The Wing Commander then started announcing the ‘Recommended’ candidates and my number was called out first! I was crying with joy. 7 were selected from a total of 187. I was proud of myself! My friends were there to encourage me eventhough they did not make it. They promised they would come back next time and join me. I was so happy to convey this message to my parents after 7 odd hours of document-filling! I stayed in the selection board along with the other 6 recommended candidates.
The next morning, we were dropped at the railway station and our mobile phones were returned to us, finally! I was so very glad I made it and filled with excitement, that, I spoke over phone to my friends and family for over 7 hours, telling them the entire story!
Overall, this AFSB was one hell of an expeerience! I made new friends, learned a new language, learned about planes, learned about punctuality, learned about discipline and lastly, learned that failure is not the end of the world and that I will never give up. I thank everyone for being supportive. There were people there who got recommended on their 13th attempt! So keep trying, stay confident and stay focussed. I’m still left with my Medical test which confirms my selection for the Indian Air Force. So, fingers crossed! 🙂
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