An Introduction to Services Selection Board
It has been the privilege of the ‘Noblesse Oblige’ to lead
the men in the war. It was the duty of the ‘Kshatriyas’ to fight the wars. The
setbacks and failures experienced during the First World War led to the concept
of “Right people for the Right job”. The selection of men based on psychology,
which had no role to play earlier, was introduced. It was during the year 1917
that the U.S Army started making use of number of psychological tests for the selection
of its recruits for various branches of its Army. Later, during 1927, it was
the turn of the Germans to set up an exclusive department of Corps of Military
Psychologists to assist in the process of selection of the men for the Army. Later,
United Kingdom set up its first War Office Selection Board for the selection of
the men for the military in 1942.
When the Far East became the major area of operations, there
was a great expansion in the Armed Forces of India too. And it was during this
time in February 1943, when War Office Selection Board (WOSB) came into being
at Dehradun on an experimental basis for the purpose of selection of Officers
with the help of psychological techniques.
In 1948, the Government of India appointed the ‘Ghosh Committee’ to review the system of selection of Officers to the Armed Forces. On the basis of recommendations of the Committee of experts, the Psychological Research Wing (PRW) was set up on 29th August, 1949 under the Defense Science Organization. The main role envisaged for the PRW was to conduct research in personnel Selection Methods; to develop tools for selection of personnel at Services Selection Boards (SSB’s); to maintain selection results and relevant statistics, to train the assessors for effective functioning at the SSB’s. In 1962, PRW’s scope was expanded and was re-designated as Defense Psychological Research (DPR) with the establishment of Applied Psychological Laboratory (APL) on September 24, 1962, as its lower formation. Naval Psychological Research Institute (NPRU) at Kochi, which has been established in year 1956 under Defense Science Laboratory (DSL), which was made the part of APL in 1962. Later in 1963, an ideology group was constituted in DPR to study problems related Morale, Motivation and Operational Efficiency of the Armed Forces. APL and NPRU was merged into DPR on August 26, 1967, however the NPRU continued to function at Kochi. Subsequently, the DPR was constituted as an independent unit and designated as Defense Institute of Psychological Research in October, 1982.
Applications for NDA including 10+2, Navy, IMA, OTA, and AFA
are called by UPSC twice a year. The exams are accordingly held in April and
September each year. Applications of successful aspirants are sent for onward distributions
to Selection Boards. For all other entries like 10+2 (Tech) Army and Navy,
Ground Duties (Air Force), Graduate Technical Entry for Army, Navy and Air
Force, the applications are called directly by the respective Service Headquarters.
Short-listed applications are sent to the Selection Boards for personality
assessment. Under the current system, there are combined Services Selection
Boards for screening Army and Navy entries. These boards have been grouped
under different Selection Centers and are controlled by the Directorate of Recruiting
under Adjutant Generals Branch. The Air Force Boards as separate entities are
functionally administered by the Directorate of Personnel, Air Headquarters.
The technical guidance to all the Boards and the training of the personnel employed
on Selection duties is provided by the DIPR.
Click here to get the detailed SSB Schedule
1) SSB's Interview Schedule
2) Introduction of Services Selection Boards
3) The Psychological Testing
4) The Group Testing Technique
5) The Screening Procedure
Click here to get the detailed SSB Schedule
1) SSB's Interview Schedule
2) Introduction of Services Selection Boards
3) The Psychological Testing
4) The Group Testing Technique
5) The Screening Procedure