4AFSB Varanasi Air Force SSB : Recommended

My Memorable Experience at 4-AFSB Varanasi.

Greetings of the day to all the Air Force SSB aspirants. I am Ashish Mishra, and in the coming few paragraphs I intend to sharemy memorable journey through the 5 day Air Force SSB, held at 4-AFSB Varanasi.

Just an Information: I cleared the SSB and was recommended for Commissioned Officer in IAF. :)
(I don't intend to boast. It is just meant to assure the reader, that he might not be out rightly wasting his time reading this article.)
There were other equally or more deserving candidates in my batch, but some of them did not make it.
The best part of SSB is that it gives you that "coming of age" experience. You meet lot of different people with different viewpoints. And Of Course, you end up making a lot of friends :).
One more thing, clearing SSB in itself is a huge confidence booster for anyone. You think you are invincible after this !!!


First,a little background about me. I am an engineering graduate in Computer Science from Pune University (VIT, to be precise) and after a good 2 years in IT industry, decided to give a shot at Air Force Technical Entry for Engineers.

So, it all started on 26 Feb, when I appeared for the All-India AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test). My center was Thane. Anyone who has practiced a little bit of RS Agrawal Quants, Verbal Non Verbal Reasoning will find it a cake walk. So, the results were out and as I had expected, I cleared it. (Though there was no mention of marks scored and rankings.)

The results took a good 1.5 months after the exam. Shortly the SSB dates were posted on the AF website. I got the 30th April batch at Varanasi.

I reached Varanasi, a day in advance, i.e. on 29th. Stayed at a hotel near Railway Station. Woke up the next morning, got dressed up, checked out and reported at the destination mentioned in SSB call letter.

There were already a few boys waiting there. One thing I want to point out here is that, the moment we see strangers, in present times, being cynics, we think they might not be interested to talk to us, or might give aus a cold shoulder. Even I felt the same for a moment. But then, I went forward and introduced myself to a few guys. I came to know that most of the candidates were either from Maharashtra or from Rajasthan. I had just started making friends in 4-AFSB !!!

There were officials from the Air Force as well. After our IDs were verified, and our luggage loaded in  a separate bus, We were taken to 4AFSB,Varanasi in a yellow bus.

I could feel the excitement in the air. My heart-beat-rate must have clocked around 200 !! The fear of the unknown, I think is the most primitive of all our fears. I told myself to calm down, but in vain. The bus , soon left for the selection board. Interestingly, the board was just at a drive of 10 minutes from the railway station. They could have easily made us march that distance !!!

We alighted the bus and were asked to stand in a row, just in front of the Candidate's mess. Then came a confident looking person with a smile on his face. He introduced himself in such a pleasant way as if we were his childhood friends !! And thus,  we came to know that he was supposed to be our Group Selection Officer(GSO) and would be our point of contact for our entire stay at 4-AFSB. -Wg Cdr Basu.

We were all taken to an air-conditioned auditorium on the first floor in a 2-storey building and seated after being assigned temporary chest numbers. After that, there was a general talk given by few senior Air Force Officers with half Birds on their chest (Helicopter Flyers wear half birds and the fighter pilots wear full birds.)

Soon, a lady (I thought she was the Psychologist) came in and briefed us about the screening test. Soon, the test began. We were given different booklets and asked to complete two tests. Both lasted for 20 minutes.

The first test was Verbal Reasoning , with majority of questions from Analogy.The second test was purely based on Visual Reasoning . The questions were of average nature and one just needs a calm and composed mind to crack them.

The booklets and the small answer sheets were immediately collected back from us. The lady again took to the  the dais and started talking about the impending Picture Perception and Description test. We were shown a picture for 30 seconds and were asked to write a story about it.I don't quite remember the time allotted for writing the story, but it was close to 10 minutes.

Also we were instructed to mention the details such as:-

No. of people in the picture.

Their ages, mood and gender.

Also we were supposed to mention the person we saw first in the picture.

The PPDT:-

The picture given to us was that of two farmers working in a barren field and there was a huge cloud of fire smoke at some distance behind them. One of them had a distressed look on his face while the other was neutral.Also, it was a bit bleak looking picture. I can assure you that it was intentionally made bleak, as this test also checks the imagination of the candidates.

The mental analysis that I did:-

Any story that I had to write was supposed to bring out certain positive qualities in its characters. This picture provided ample opportunities in that respect :)

The moment I saw a cloud of smoke behind the farmers, I was reminded of the Fukushima Nuclear disaster in Japan (Japan  has a substantial farmer population !!!, who were all affected along with their crops).

My story:- (In brief)

Alex and Jacob were brothers, Alex being the eldest. They both were farmers. One day, while they were doing the usual work in their fields, they heard a huge explosion in the nearby Nuclear Power plant. Soon a huge cloud of smoke issued from the destroyed building. Jacob, panicked at the sight of fire. But Alex kept his cool. Being a literate, he knew that there was a good possibility of Nuclear radiation leak from the plant. He decided to quickly alert the villagers about the scenario. Also, he knew about the use of wet mud and cow dung to protect oneself from Radiation. He along with his brother ran to the village and alerted everybody about the impending disaster. He asked the villagers to cover their hut walls with wet cow-dung and to stay indoors until the Government help arrives. Through their timely action and quick thinking they managed to save a lot of lives.

After the time ran out, were told to fold the answer sheet and keep it in our front pockets. We were asked not to refer to the story anymore. We were all taken to a nearby building, which housed the GD rooms. The moment I entered the GD room along with 10 people, I noticed 4 officers and a facilitator waiting for us. The four officers sat in a semicircle manner at a distance from our place of sitting. The facilitator greeted us and asked us to introduce ourselves. It went fairly smooth, with an occasional "butterfly in the stomach effect". Each of us described his story. We were asked to discuss our stories together and reach a common story. Almost Every-one had written something about a fire\disaster\mis-happening. So, in a very short round of well-balanced discussion, we reached a common story and asked one of the group members - Tariq Aziz to summarize the story.

So, that concluded our screening test. After a short wait, We were asked to gather in front of the group discussions building. The screening results were announced by our GSO. 

22 people had to leave. That left 44 of us to face the next 4 days of testing. We were all asked to leave for lunch and were instructed to return back to the auditorium, where we had given our verbal and non verbal section of Screening test.

I thought, the testing for the day was done. But how very wrong I was !! The moment we entered the auditorium, we were assigned new chest numbers, that were to be with us for the rest of our stay. I was assigned 26. Also, we were greeted by the same lady officer, who had taken our screening test. She was to take our psychological test which comprised of:-
1) Word Association Test. (60 words, Had to form sentences quickly.)
2) Thematic Appreciation Test. (12 pictures - Had to write short stories based on the same.)
3) Situation Reaction Test. (60 situations, had to write down our reaction quickly.)
4) Self Description. (What you, your parents, your friends, your colleagues think about you.)

We never really knew, how those 2 hours flew by. Our answer sheets were collected, and FINALLY at 4:30 PM, we were asked to leave for our dorm rooms. Before leaving, we were grouped in batches of 10, and each was assigned a name and a dorm room. I was assigned Group C, and our group was supposed to stay at Dorm Room named Mig 21. I was pleasantly surprised to see that each of the dorm rooms where the candidates had to stay, were given Air Force Aircraft names. Some of them being - Su 30, Mig 23, Mirage etc...

By evening a notice was put in front of our dorm rooms. It was a timetable for all the groups. So for our group, it was first two days of group tasks. One day off. And the last day as personal Interview.

Next day, everybody woke up by 5:00 and got ready by 6:30 !!! Some did it for the first time in their lives. Discipline can really do wonders !!!
We gathered in front of candidate's mess at sharp 6:45 (after having our breakfast).We had put on the PT dress and were taken to the nearby ground. It was littered with all kind of obstacles, ropes, canisters, thick stumps etc. Soon, our Group testing officers came. There were two of them, one lady and one male officer. In the following 3 hours we did a variety of tasks:-

Progressive Group Task. -All had to work in a team, to cross obstacles using ropes and stumps etc.
Half Group Task - Group was into divided into two and was asked to do tasks independently.
Final Group Task. - Same as Progressive Group Task. It is the last opportunity for anyone who has not         performed well in the group tasks.
Individual Group Task. - Also called command Task. You are called and explained the task of crossing the obstacles. Then, you are asked to complete the task. You can summon two of your group members for this task. Your Leadership skills are checked.

Later we were taken to the nearby building for Group Planning Exercise. Here we were all introduced to a real life scenario involving a village, some dacoits, a girl about to be kidnapped, a train about to be derailed etc... And were asked to come up with a strategy through group discussion. Thankfully, each one of us contributed to the solution with least altercation. The group chose me to explain the plan to the GTO. This turned out to be the last activity of the day. We went back to our dorm and had a relaxed evening. Some of the guys played volleyball and badminton. The equipment were at our disposal from the nearby sports store room. Has a sumptuous dinner and retired for the day.

Next day, was the day of Individual Task and lecturette. Now, let me dispel some myths at the very outset. This is not at all an important test. I mean, they need officers and not monkeys. There are a total of 10 obstacles with varying degree of difficulty. At least 6 of them can be completed without any hassles and that is what that needs to be done. Don't overexert yourself for stuff like Tiger Jump and Climbing a rope etc.
If you get bruised, that leaves a negative impression. And yes, the GTO gives a demo of how each obstacle needs to be tackled. I myself, am not a big athlete and completed only 6 tasks but was recommended. So, no need to worry Guys !!!

After the Individual Task, comes an important activity called lecturette. Most often done in the Playground itself. You are given 3 chits and you have to speak for 5 minutes on any of the topics. I was given:-
1) The future of e-Commerce in India.
2) Women empowerment in India.
3) I don't remember the third one.

I spoke on the second one. One important point here is to avoid blaming the system. Present the positive aspects, first and foremost. If at all you want to point out some deficiencies, complement them with good\feasible solutions. Don't slouch your shoulders. Try to look at everyone as if you are having a collective conversation with all those sitting in front of you. Do not look\stare over everybody's head or at the GTO. I think, its a make or break test and is a good opportunity to make up for any thing you have missed in the group tasks.

So this is how our 3rd day concluded at 4-AFSB. The next day was an off day for our group. So we got a day break before our personal interviews. Many of my group-mates went to the Varanasi ghats and other places. I visited the nearby temple and cyber cafe to gather some GK gist for the interviews.

So on the 4th day, our batch had its personal interview. I was interviewed by Wg. Cdr. Sonny Misra, an elderly, serious looking, smart officer. I was ushered into his cabin after waiting  for around 7 hours!!! it is generally like this only unless you are among the first few called for the interview. We were called randomly by different interviewers and I was the second last to be called. The interviewer asked me about my interest, academics family, how I managed my budget (As I was employed in Amdocs at that time.), why Air Force after 2 years in IT sector, why so late, what do you have to offer to AirForce, what kind of job profile you are looking for etc etc... There were times when he did not agree with me, but I kept my cool and did not over exert myself. My answers were optimistic and devoid of extremism. I felt, this worked for me.

Also, if you have some views, be ready to back them up with real life example. For example, I said, people are intrinsically helpful by nature but some times skepticism stops them from doing the right thing. He asked me to give an example from my life when I had been helpful to someone and received help from some one else.

The interview lasted for an hour. We were thus, done for the day. So, we were nearing the completion of this 5 day journey. All of us assembled in the Candidate's mess. Surprisingly, none of us was anxious about the results. May be it came from the fact that, we had the most fulfilling 5 days of our life behind us. No Regrets. Only learning. By now, I knew each of my group members (Group C) by his name and chest number, both.

There were still some interviews from other batches remaining. So we had to wait for another 2 hours. At around 3:30 PM, we were all asked to come to the auditorium, after packing our bags (Those who would not be selected, had to leave immediately for the station. Of Course, there was a bus waiting.).

The call up for the Conference started, and each one of us was called and asked easy\general questions about our stay, suggestions for improvement, etc by the board (By the way, inside the conference room, there were at least 15 officers sitting along with the President of the board. It was enough to intimidate any guy, but by the time you reach the 5th day, you don't really get intimidated by anything !!!). So it was a short and sweet affair, where the entire batch of around 44 guys was dealt within an hour.

We were seated in the auditorium for another 30 minutes. Some were excited, some quiet, some determined not to show their emotions. It seemed like ages before our  GSO along with the GTO came inside the auditorium. Without much ado, they announced the results, where in 5 people got recommended and asked to stay back to fill more forms. I was one of them, and was hugged by each of the members of my group and by some others as well. It was a great feeling. Standing on the podium, I finally could have a sense of achievement. I had made it through the coveted SSB !!! 4th May 2012, the most eventful day of my life...

I hope, this account was of some help, however small, to any interested aspirant. I am always open to questions\ inquiries. Just ask them in the comment section and I will answer them the same day(I have this habit of checking my gmail every few hours !!!).


As a parting note, let me borrow and re-frame these famous lines from The Matrix.

No body can really be told what the SSB is all about, YOU HAVE TO SEE IT FOR YOURSELF. 

And indeed, what an experience it was !!!

Adios,
Ashish Mishra

PS: Never pass off an opportunity to appear for SSB. It's a life time opportunity and you will end up being a better person after those 5 days, irrespective of the result !!!