Pak_88
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- Oct 3, 2015
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I applied for 144 PMA L/C some time in mid-June, and finally received my ISSB call letter on the 22nd of June, 2019. I'd just been discharged from CMH, Multan, about 4 days prior, after an unpleasant bout of enteric fever that left me incredibly weak. I was discharged just one day prior to my initial test for the AMC M Cadet initials. Not more than a day had passed before I receieved the call for reporting to ISSB Malir on the 1st of August. Hectic, to say the least! Upon receiving the letter I debated with my father, an officer himself, someone who I reckoned knew the process well enough, on the appropriate preparatory measures to take. We had about two or three discussions, with him instructing me to be as natural as one can be, and to go through that ubiquitous guide published by Dogarsons. I casually read through the book, not much in there that was news to me. Alas! That was the extent of my formal preparation in the days running up to the ISSB.
I arrived in Malir on the 31st. My trip to Malir had not been without incident, either. I'd badly injured my foot on the night of the 30th, the details of which I shan't go into haha.
I spent the night of the 30th in quite some pain, and limped my way to Karachi Airport. This wasnt a chance I was going to let go due to something stupid foot injury, thought I. A crepe bandage, some iodex, and painkillers had seen me through worse. This was going to be no different.
I got up on the morning of the 1st and finally reported to ISSB Malir. The city had only recently been washed by a torrential downpour, and the weather was pleasantly cloudy, with cool winds blowing. The first day passed with the regular pleasantries of filling out forms, and getting acquainted with the atmosphere of the whole place, being allotted chest numbers, and being shown our accommodations. I was pleased to meet a number of friends who'd applied in the same course as I had. Sheer luck that so many of us would end up in the same batch. In fact, my best friend, who'd moved away on account of his father's posting, belonged to the same batch, and it was an absolute delight seeing the chap again after so long. Needless to say, the next four days were spent in good company, and I made good friendships along the way.
The next day was, of course, the day of the psychiatric evaluation. We underwent the sentence completion tests, the word association tests, the pointer story and picture story tests, that we'd all heard such a great deal about. Another interesting addition was an OPI test. It consisted of 150 statements, upon which we had to give our opinions, rated along a scale of 1-7, ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). The screen out tests have apparently been done away with, and any and all screening out now takes place during initial selection at the AS&RCs. Lunch and a tea-break followed, and we soon found ourselves free by about 1430. The rest of the day was spent trying to find some cool spot beneath the shade to relax. Soon enough, the nicknames for different candidates came in. And let me say, colourful nicknames they were!
The next day was the first GTO day. An interesting affair, we were told to report immediately following breakfast for the indoor tasks. We were taken to Johar Hall, and allotted groups. We were then guided by our respective GTOs into small rooms for the group discussion, lecturette, and the group planning exercise. The group discussion was to be conducted solely in Urdu, with the topic being "Pakistan aik johari taaqat aur taraqqi pazeer mulk". Thereafter followed the lecturette, a brief affair, with each candidate given two minutes to prepare, and two minutes to speak on a topic chosen by the GTO. Yours truly was given the topic "Media and Modern Warfare". This was followed by the group planning, whereby the group is given a sand model and presented with a problem. The group must come up with a reasonable solution, and elect a member of the group to present the aforementioned solution to the GTO. Yours truly was elected as the member for this task. Unfortunately, one tends to forget minute details regarding the whole problem; this was my undoing, and I failed to present the solition with the precision required.
The group planning marked the conclusion of the GTO's indoor tasks. We were soon enough instructed to carry on to the mess for a short tea break, after which we were to report to Johar Hall in our PT kit. This we did, and we were soon led, group-wise, to the task area. After a detailed briefing on what was to follow, we were tasked to undertake the progressive group task, so called due to its progressive/sequential nature, taking place in three stages. Our group had scarcely crossed the first stage when we were informed that we'd reached the time limit. Then followed the half group task, a relatively short and simple matter, though, we felt as if the time were insufficient to bring the task to completion. This element we would soon understand in the following days. We were thereafter instructed to return to our accommodations, and prepare for the interview with the psychologist. Freshly shaven, we appeared in Johar Hall once more, dressed in our Sunday finest. We were soon led upstairs, where we would wait for our turn to enter the psychologist's office. The author had a very comfortable experience, being asked simple questions relating to family background, and personal tastes. The interview lasted for about 10 minutes, and was followed by a retreat to the shade in the company of one's batchmates. The rest of the day was spent either there, or in the canteen, sipping away at all the cold drinks we could, in a fruitless effort to ward off the heat.
The following morning we reported to the mess for breakfast in our PT kits, ready as ever for action. The comfortable interview with the psychologist the day prior had thankfully calmed one's nerves. The command task was soon to follow, and yours truly was thankfully able to satisfy the GTO, though want of time led to inability to complete the task. The final group task was a short affair, not of much note, and that treat is left for candidates to enjoy at the ISSB. Individual obstacles proved to be a thorn in my side, however. My foot hadn't healed (and wouldn't completely heal 'till a month later), and was hampering my ability to walk, let alone run. I knew, however, that there was no turning back, and decided to do as best I could. Unfortunately, however, my performance was deemed unsatisfactory, with only 5 obstacles attempted, and many of the attempted obstacles having seen me fall over and try again in my second or third attempts. Keeping our individual morales up, we soon enough returned to our accommodations and prepared for the interview with the Deputy President. The procedure was, again, much the same as it had been for the previous day's interview, though the wait seemed longer and much more torturous on this day. Soon enough, came my own turn to be interviewed by the Deputy President. Armed to the teeth with youthful naivety, I entered his office. Thereafter followed a rather interesting 45 minutes. The interview was styled in the nature of a very casual conversation, seemingly noncommittal, with throwaway questions sometimes interjected by questions of a rather personal nature, and a variety of situations aimed at judging one's moral compass, I suppose. I tried as best I could to stick to Abba's advice of being completely natural, seeing as it had seen me through the previous 3 days. The interview concluded with a handshake and I was soon to return to the rest of my batchmates, trying to decipher each and every expression the interviewing officer had emoted. The rest of the day and the day to follow were spent in anticipation, as our anxious souls longed to be freed. The following afternoon marked our departure from ISSB. Yours truly was put through the individual obstacle course once more, and tried doing as many as possible, ending with 8. We walked through the main gate of ISSB Malir, and sat in the candidate's waiting area, waiting for our individual means of transport. Soon enough, we were on our way.
I'm greatly thankful to Allah Almighty for getting me through the board with a letter of recommendation. I did not prepare specifically in the days leading up to the board itself, and I can't be held creditable for even an iota of success. I shall forever be thankful.
To all candidates, I wish you the very best of luck. If you have any questions, I shall be most delighted to answer them. Any need of guidance, I am at your disposal.
Regards
I arrived in Malir on the 31st. My trip to Malir had not been without incident, either. I'd badly injured my foot on the night of the 30th, the details of which I shan't go into haha.
I spent the night of the 30th in quite some pain, and limped my way to Karachi Airport. This wasnt a chance I was going to let go due to something stupid foot injury, thought I. A crepe bandage, some iodex, and painkillers had seen me through worse. This was going to be no different.
I got up on the morning of the 1st and finally reported to ISSB Malir. The city had only recently been washed by a torrential downpour, and the weather was pleasantly cloudy, with cool winds blowing. The first day passed with the regular pleasantries of filling out forms, and getting acquainted with the atmosphere of the whole place, being allotted chest numbers, and being shown our accommodations. I was pleased to meet a number of friends who'd applied in the same course as I had. Sheer luck that so many of us would end up in the same batch. In fact, my best friend, who'd moved away on account of his father's posting, belonged to the same batch, and it was an absolute delight seeing the chap again after so long. Needless to say, the next four days were spent in good company, and I made good friendships along the way.
The next day was, of course, the day of the psychiatric evaluation. We underwent the sentence completion tests, the word association tests, the pointer story and picture story tests, that we'd all heard such a great deal about. Another interesting addition was an OPI test. It consisted of 150 statements, upon which we had to give our opinions, rated along a scale of 1-7, ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). The screen out tests have apparently been done away with, and any and all screening out now takes place during initial selection at the AS&RCs. Lunch and a tea-break followed, and we soon found ourselves free by about 1430. The rest of the day was spent trying to find some cool spot beneath the shade to relax. Soon enough, the nicknames for different candidates came in. And let me say, colourful nicknames they were!
The next day was the first GTO day. An interesting affair, we were told to report immediately following breakfast for the indoor tasks. We were taken to Johar Hall, and allotted groups. We were then guided by our respective GTOs into small rooms for the group discussion, lecturette, and the group planning exercise. The group discussion was to be conducted solely in Urdu, with the topic being "Pakistan aik johari taaqat aur taraqqi pazeer mulk". Thereafter followed the lecturette, a brief affair, with each candidate given two minutes to prepare, and two minutes to speak on a topic chosen by the GTO. Yours truly was given the topic "Media and Modern Warfare". This was followed by the group planning, whereby the group is given a sand model and presented with a problem. The group must come up with a reasonable solution, and elect a member of the group to present the aforementioned solution to the GTO. Yours truly was elected as the member for this task. Unfortunately, one tends to forget minute details regarding the whole problem; this was my undoing, and I failed to present the solition with the precision required.
The group planning marked the conclusion of the GTO's indoor tasks. We were soon enough instructed to carry on to the mess for a short tea break, after which we were to report to Johar Hall in our PT kit. This we did, and we were soon led, group-wise, to the task area. After a detailed briefing on what was to follow, we were tasked to undertake the progressive group task, so called due to its progressive/sequential nature, taking place in three stages. Our group had scarcely crossed the first stage when we were informed that we'd reached the time limit. Then followed the half group task, a relatively short and simple matter, though, we felt as if the time were insufficient to bring the task to completion. This element we would soon understand in the following days. We were thereafter instructed to return to our accommodations, and prepare for the interview with the psychologist. Freshly shaven, we appeared in Johar Hall once more, dressed in our Sunday finest. We were soon led upstairs, where we would wait for our turn to enter the psychologist's office. The author had a very comfortable experience, being asked simple questions relating to family background, and personal tastes. The interview lasted for about 10 minutes, and was followed by a retreat to the shade in the company of one's batchmates. The rest of the day was spent either there, or in the canteen, sipping away at all the cold drinks we could, in a fruitless effort to ward off the heat.
The following morning we reported to the mess for breakfast in our PT kits, ready as ever for action. The comfortable interview with the psychologist the day prior had thankfully calmed one's nerves. The command task was soon to follow, and yours truly was thankfully able to satisfy the GTO, though want of time led to inability to complete the task. The final group task was a short affair, not of much note, and that treat is left for candidates to enjoy at the ISSB. Individual obstacles proved to be a thorn in my side, however. My foot hadn't healed (and wouldn't completely heal 'till a month later), and was hampering my ability to walk, let alone run. I knew, however, that there was no turning back, and decided to do as best I could. Unfortunately, however, my performance was deemed unsatisfactory, with only 5 obstacles attempted, and many of the attempted obstacles having seen me fall over and try again in my second or third attempts. Keeping our individual morales up, we soon enough returned to our accommodations and prepared for the interview with the Deputy President. The procedure was, again, much the same as it had been for the previous day's interview, though the wait seemed longer and much more torturous on this day. Soon enough, came my own turn to be interviewed by the Deputy President. Armed to the teeth with youthful naivety, I entered his office. Thereafter followed a rather interesting 45 minutes. The interview was styled in the nature of a very casual conversation, seemingly noncommittal, with throwaway questions sometimes interjected by questions of a rather personal nature, and a variety of situations aimed at judging one's moral compass, I suppose. I tried as best I could to stick to Abba's advice of being completely natural, seeing as it had seen me through the previous 3 days. The interview concluded with a handshake and I was soon to return to the rest of my batchmates, trying to decipher each and every expression the interviewing officer had emoted. The rest of the day and the day to follow were spent in anticipation, as our anxious souls longed to be freed. The following afternoon marked our departure from ISSB. Yours truly was put through the individual obstacle course once more, and tried doing as many as possible, ending with 8. We walked through the main gate of ISSB Malir, and sat in the candidate's waiting area, waiting for our individual means of transport. Soon enough, we were on our way.
I'm greatly thankful to Allah Almighty for getting me through the board with a letter of recommendation. I did not prepare specifically in the days leading up to the board itself, and I can't be held creditable for even an iota of success. I shall forever be thankful.
To all candidates, I wish you the very best of luck. If you have any questions, I shall be most delighted to answer them. Any need of guidance, I am at your disposal.
Regards
