DEFENCE SREVICES

The Indian Army offers a bright career option for the young and enthusiastic people who along with the feeling of serving the country are willing to take challenges and dedicate their lives to defending the country and its people. The sixth pay commission has made the defence services a more lucrative career option for the young who were moving towards the private sector earlier as the remuneration paid were far better than what was paid in the armed forces.



The revised salary structure proposed by the sixth pay commission has added to the charm of the defence services. However the recent news still shows that the defence services are still short of 10,000 officers. The reason being the candidates still find the corporate world more attractive and often ignore the various benefits provided by government jobs. The Defence services provide numerous benefits which include medical amenities, travel concession, pension facilities, saving instruments and housing benefits. Defence services in India are divided into three braches: Air Force, Army and Navy. There are two ways you can join the Armed forces as commissioned officers i.e. through NDA and CDS. The NDA is for the young aspirants who want to join defence services after they complete their 12th. And for those who want to join after completing their graduation can join through CDS. There are also many special entry schemes i.e. through NCC or the technical entry that allows you to go for direct interview without appearing in the written examination. Otherwise without any of the privilege you have to go through the procedure of written examination. There is no quota system in defence services. Except for some privilege for the war widows only they can appear directly for the SSB. The written examination is conducted by the UPSC.                                                                        

DEFENCE SERVICES

Two different exams are conducted for the aspirants interested to join the defence services.

1.    NDA (National Defence Academy) and NA (Naval Academy)

2.    CDS (Combined Defence Services)



NDA: NATIONAL DEFENCE ACADEMY and NAVAL ACADEMY

NDA entrance exam is conducted twice a year by the UPSC usually in the month of April and August for the admission to Army, Navy and Air force wing for the National Defence Academy and the Naval Academy. The successful students on the basis of their merit ranking and choice are sent to the following academy for training.

(a) National Defence Academy, Kadakwasla, Pune

(b) Naval Academy, Goa

ELIGIBILITY:  For Army wing candidates passed or appearing in 12th class pass of the 10+2 pattern of the school education or equivalent examination.

For Air force and Naval wing (executive course) Candidates pass or appearing in 12th class of the 10+2 pattern of the school education or equivalent examination with physics and mathematics
Only unmarried male between the ages of 161/2 to 19 years are eligible to appear in the exam.

PATTERN:  The subjects that are included in the written examination of NDA are:



PAPER 1: MATHEMATICS: This paper is objective type and the syllabus for paper 1 is-

•    Arithmetic
•    Mensuration
•    Trigonometry
•    Matrices and Determinants
•    Analytical Geometry of two and three dimensions
•    Differential Calculus, Integral Calculus and Differential equations
•    Vector Algebra
•    Statistics and Probability

PAPER 2:

Part A: ENGLISH: (200)

The syllabus covers various aspects like: Grammar and usage, vocabulary, comprehension and cohesion in extended text to test the candidate’s proficiency in English.

Part B: GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: (400)

The question paper on General Knowledge will broadly cover the subjects: Physics (Approx 100 marks), Chemistry (Approx (60 marks), General Science (Approx 40 marks), Social Studies (Approx 80 marks), Geography (Approx 80 marks) and Current Events
(Approx 40 marks). The weightage given to the papers are approximately 25%, 15%, 10%, 20%, 20% and 10% respectively.

INTERVIEW:

Once the candidate successfully clears the written examination, they have to go through a five day interview, which is conducted by the Service Selection Board. The interview consists of 900 marks.

Services Selection Centres

Army: a) Bangalore, b) Bhopal, c) Allahabad

Navy: Besides the above centers, Coimbatore is also one of the centers for selecting candidates for the NAVY.

Air Force: a) Mysore, b) Varanasi, c) Dehradun

Pattern for interview

The SSB consists of five days:

Day 1: Screening test: The candidates are picked from the railway station and escorted by the staff to the center. Their they are asked to fill up a  the form i.e. the PIQ (Personal information questionnaire) After filling the form the candidate has to go through a screening test which consists of a Intelligence test (verbal and non verbal), followed by picture perception and group discussion. The candidates successful in screening stay for rest of the interview the rest return the same day.

Day 2: Psychological tests: Written test for psychology is conducted which includes story writing,

Word association test: words are flashed and you have to make sentences out of the words

Situation reaction test: certain situations are given and you have to write your reaction if you were in those situation.

Thematic Appreciation test: Pictures are flashed on basis of which candidate has to write stories.

Self Description

Day 3 and Day 4: Group Test and individual task: this would include group discussion, lecturette, group planning, command task, individual obstacles and group obstacles (physical). Here the team work and individual capability of the candidates are judged. The interviews of the candidates are conducted side by side on the 3rd and 4th day. The interview is conducted by the interviewing officer sometimes accompanied by the psychologists. The interview is intended to judge the mental caliber, attitude and outlook of the candidate along with his leadership qualities and character traits. Thus, it would be an assessment not merely of his Academic proficiency and intellectual qualities but also of his social traits and interest in current events. 

Day 5: Conference: After the interview, SSB examiners of psychological test, group test, and interview get together and hold a conference and recommend the name of the candidates for joining the services. The results are declared and the successful candidates stay for further 5 days for medicals and rest return.

MEDICALS: The medicals are conducted for a period of 5 days. Where complete medical check up of the candidate is done.
After a period of time a merit list is released which is based upon the complete the complete assessment from the written test to the interview and the medicals. The successful candidates join the academies for training.       

COMBINED DEFENCE SERVICES (CDS)

Combined Defence Service exam is conducted by UPSC twice every year for recruitment to officer cadre of the Army, Navy and Air force. CDS exam is conducted generally in the months of May and October.

Candidates qualifying the written test are interviewed by the Service Selection Board and if finally selected, depending upon the choice given by the candidates and their merit list ranking, are sent to one of the following institutes for orientation training



(a) Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun
(b) Naval Academy (NA), Goa
(c) Air Force Academy, Begumpet, Hyderabad
(d) Officer Training Academy (OTA), Chennai

Those joining the above three institutes get permanent commission and the cadets passing through OTA get a short service commission.

ELIGIBILITY

Educational Qualifications:

IMA /OTA: A degree from a recognized University or equivalent.

Naval Academy: B.Sc. with Physics and/or Mathematics or Bachelor of Engineering.

Air Force Academy: B.Sc. of a recognized University or equivalent with Physics and/or Mathematics as subjects or Bachelor of

Engineering.

Age:

IMA: Unmarried male candidates between 19-24 years
Naval Academy: Unmarried male candidates between 19-22 years on
Air Force Academy: Unmarried male candidates between 19-23 years
Officers Training Academy: Male and Female candidates (married or unmarried) between 19-25 years

PATTERN:

The Examination comprises of:

1.    Written Exam

2.    Interview

Written Examination

The following will be subjects for the written examination (each of 2 hours duration):

(a) For admission to Indian Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy:

PAPER 1:  ENGLISH (100 marks) 2Hrs

The paper of English is for the test of English language and consists of
Comprehension, Antonyms and Synonyms, Correct the errors, Fill in the blanks (preposition), grammar and vocabulary.

PAPER 2: GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (100 marks) 2Hrs

These test the general knowledge and generally cover the following topics

•    Current Affairs: The current affairs questions would generally include questions 4-6 months prior the exam. Therefore it is very important for candidates to know about what’s going around the world

•    History: The subject of history would include questions from The Ancient History i.e. The Harappan culture and Indus Valley civilization, The Mughal History i.e. the mughal rule and The Modern History i.e. The Indian struggle for independence.

•    Social Science: This would include the Indian and the world geography, Indian economy and Indian polity.

•    Science: The questions are from physics, chemistry and biology.

PAPER 2: ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS (100 marks) 2Hrs

•    Arithmetic
•    Algebra
•    Geometry
•    Trigonometry
•    Statistics
•    Mensuration
•    Unitary method

(b) For admission to Officer Training Academy:   

The examination consists of PAPER 1 and PAPER 2 i.e. of English and General knowledge, which has the same syllabus as, mentioned above for admission to IMA, NA and AF only the paper of mathematics is not included.

INTERVIEW: 

Same pattern of interview is followed as for NDA once a candidate is successful in the written exam.

Finally, One should never try to bluff or be inconsistent in views. A natural confident approach is the best. Ultimately it is the overall analysis of the individualsinglequotes performance in the written examination in conjunction with the performance in the SSB tests. The lists of recommended candidates are forwarded to the Medical Board. After clearing the Medical, and being successful in the Merit List, the candidate joins the training academy. For those who make it through this interesting challenge the future holds a lot of promise and national responsibility.

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