The armed forces offer many perks such as free rations, free medical aid, canteen facilities, free rail travel, concessions during air travel, pension, group insurance, loans for building houses or buying vehicles, and so on. There is a lot of scope for travel within the country and even abroad. One may not always be able to stay with one's family. The separated family gets family accommodation in a city of your choice but the wife has to take the extra load, especially when the children are of school-going age. For these reasons, probably a career in the armed forces is not the first choice and as a result of this there is a shortage of officers in the services.

As many as 1,75,000 candidates appear for the entrance examination for NDA every six months and only 400 get through. The next NDA examination is scheduled to be held on October 3, 1999. The advertisement has been published in the Employment News dated April 24. The last date for the applications is May 26, 1999. The candidate should have been born not earlier than July 1981, and not later than January 1984. Candidates who are appearing for the 12th standard can apply. They have to appear for an entrance test consisting of two papers of two and half hours duration each. The first paper contains 120 objective type questions in Mathematics, which includes arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics and mensuration. The paper carries 300 marks. The second paper consists of three sections - English, Science and Social Science and carries six hundred marks. The questions are based on the 12th standard C.B.S.E syllabus.

The examination is held in Mumbai or Nagpur. Both the papers are on the same day (Sunday). There is no such thing as passing marks or minimum marks, which a student has to obtain to qualify. If he is among the first 4000 students, then he gets a call for the SSB interview.

The Services Selection Boards (SSB) are located at Mysore, Bangalore, Bhopal and Dehradun. There is no screening test for the NDA candidates, but there is a screening test for all the other categories. Screening test is an IQ test. Those who fail in the screening test are sent home the same day. The interview lasts for three days and includes intelligence test, group and subgroup tasks, lectures and group discussions, an obstacle course and ends up with an interview. Then follows a strict medical test for those who have been selected in the interview. All those with an eyesight problem cannot apply for the air-force or the navy. They can, however, join these services as ground duty officers or engineers (INS Shivaji) after graduation.

Having got over all these hurdles successfully, one can wait for the merit list which appears a month before the commencement of the course. The results of the medical examination are not included. Some names are dropped out from this list. Of course, if a student fails to pass HSC he cannot join, even if he qualifies in the written examination and the interview.

The next entry is the graduate entry for which a Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS) is held. The syllabus is almost the same as that of the NDA Entrance. Only difference being that there are three papers instead of two. Those who opt for a short service commission do not have to take Mathematics. The SSB is the same as for NDA candidates but there is a screening test at the beginning. Short Service commissioned officers are neither looked down upon, nor are they given a step motherly treatment. They get a chance to appear a SSB after they complete their first contract, if they so desire and can get a regular commission that way. The next Entrance exam for CDS is on September 19, 1999. Candidates studying for the final year degree course can apply. (The last date for applying was April 26). There are 32 seats for the NCC 'C' certificate holders of the Army wing.

Those who are qualified engineers, doctors or advocates can get a commission without appearing for a written test. The air force conducts a preliminary test for engineers to short list the candidates who are then called for the interview.

Both the Army and the Navy have started an engineering degree course for those who have scored high marks in the 12th standard examination. After receiving basic army or engineering training in the IMA or the Naval Academy, they are sent for a four year degree course at different Army and Navy Institutions where the students get a degree after four years. In their last year, those at the IMA and at the various colleges get a stipend of Rs. 8000/- p.m. which is paid lump sum when they get their commission.

Women are selected as officers in all the three services. They get short service commissions in the flying branch as pilots provided they have studied Science and Mathematics in the HSC. Ladies also get commissions in the branches of the other services provided they have extra qualifications like a diploma in catering. So far they have not been sent to any dangerous areas.

In order to prepare for the examinations and the interviews, there are a number of guides and books available in the market. In major cities institutions run short and not-so short courses. Candidates should get into the habit of reading daily newspapers and weekly magazines and acquire fluency in English.