Indian Air Force (IAF) seeks trainee officers
To qualify, candidates will have to pass the Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT), scheduled on Aug 28, 2011 (Sunday), to be held at 57 different cities across the country, an IAF press release said here Sunday.
The last date for submitting applications at AFCAT cells in any of the seven IAF command headquarters of at Shillong, New Delhi, Allahabad, Gandhinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Nagpur and Bangalore is July 11.
For men, the courses are for short service commissions (SSCs) in the flying, technical and ground duty branches. They can also opt for a permanent commission (PC) through the Aeronautical Engineers Course (Electronics or Mechanical) and Ground Duty Officers Course (Administration and Logistics, Accounts, Meteorology and Education).
For women aspirants, only SSC is offered in the flying, engineering and ground duties branches.
The duration of training for the flying and engineering branches is 74 weeks. The training for the ground duties branches is 52 weeks.
A permanent commission in the flying branch is presently only through the the Union Public Service Commission route - for NDA (National Defence Academy) graduates and those qualifying in the CDSE (Combined Defence Services Examination).
The engagement period for SSC in the flying branch is 14 years from date of commissioning and is non-extendable.
SSC officers in technical and ground duties branches will have an initial tenure of 10 years. An extension of four years may be granted subject to willingness, service requirements and availability of vacancies. Permanent commissioned officers would serve till superannuation, the release said.
Qualifying in the AFCAT will enable aspirants to undergo further testing at one of the Air Force Selection Boards (AFSB) at Dehradun, Mysore or Varanasi.
At the AFSB, the candidates will be put through intelligence and other tests and will undergo psychological and group tests, including an interview.
Aspiring pilots will be put through a once-in-a-lifetime Pilot Aptitude Battery Test (PABT) to decide whether they can ever hope to be military aviators.
For technical branches, qualifying in the Engineering Knowledge Test (EKT) is a must. Both tests are held at the AFSBs.
Successful candidates will undergo medical examinations either at Air Force Central Medical establishment (AFCME), New Delhi or Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), Bangalore.
Ten percent of the vacancies are reserved for NCC Air Wing 'C' certificate holders.
Newly commissioned officers begin drawing gross monthly emoluments of Rs.57,352 for the flying branch, Rs. 48,602 for the engineering branch and Rs.46,102 for the ground duties branches.
In addition, furnished accommodation, comprehensive medical cover, leave (60 days annual and 20 days casual) including travel concessions, entitled rations, canteen and officers' mess facilities, insurance cover of Rs.50 lakh and an additional Rs.3.5 lakh for flying branch officers are among some of the benefits the IAF offers. (IANS -Posted on / )
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