Presidents conclave of AFSB concludes

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

Air Force Selection Board, Dehradun hosted the annual Presidents’ Conclave from Aug 13-18, wherein Presidents of the various Selection Boards across the country came together and discussed strategies and evolving trends in selection.

No 1 Air Force Selection Board, Dehradun is a premier institution which has been performing this daunting task of selecting  candidates with innate qualities which can be trained to make them an Officer in the armed forces, since pre-independence. The institute was initially established as an Experimental Selection Board at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun in 1943. Subsequently, the Board was renamed as No 7 General Selection Board, then Royal Indian Air Force Board and moved to its present location at Clement Town in Oct 1948. The Board carries out selection of Officers for all the three services, of the armed forces.

For decades, the Board has been the main reason to attract thousands of defence aspirants from all over the country to Dehradun. It is a great boon to the youth of Uttarakhand and neighbouring states who want to choose a prestigious career in the armed forces. The Board is the first of its kind and a precursor to the number of other Selection Boards which were established subsequently. The selection procedure is common for all the three services and assessors of all three services are trained jointly at the Defence Institute of Psychological Research, New Delhi.

Apart from selecting candidates, the Board also undertakes Computerised Pilot Selection System for aviators of Air Force, Army, Navy, Coast Guard and also Officers of Friendly Foreign Countries.

During the six day conclave, hosted by the President of the Deharadun Board,  Air Cmde AS Pathania VSM, the presidents of all other Air Force Selection Boards across the country, reps from Defence Institute of Psychological Research and reps from other Service Selection Boards attended the conclave. In view of the changing military scenario, various methods of identifying the required qualities in a candidate were presented by the participants and the process to be followed by all the other boards were standardised. The process of standardisation was deliberated for the first five days and the final draft for the selection process was presented during the sixth day.