Initial Officer Selection

[Red Rat]

The UK AOSB is failing more candidates then ever before. Candidates are also scrutinised closely at the officer academy (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst - RMAS), especially those aspiring to the combat arms.

Royal Marines officers also had to undertake the Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) in addition to POC, although I am not sure if this is still the case.

The general consensus is that the UK officer selection procedure is providing both the number and quality of officers required - that at least is the opinion of commanders. Most debate within the UK army at the moment is less on officer selection and more on officer training and development; namely the RMAS syllabus and the tactics used in the field exercises there, as well as special to arm training (Basic Officers Course in the US terminology) after officer training.

I will see if I can get some hard statistics on AOSB pass/fail rates and those for RMAS.

[JMA]

The UK AOSB is failing more candidates then ever before. Candidates are also scrutinised closely at the officer academy (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst - RMAS), especially those aspiring to the combat arms.

Royal Marines officers also had to undertake the Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) in addition to POC, although I am not sure if this is still the case.

The general consensus is that the UK officer selection procedure is providing both the number and quality of officers required - that at least is the opinion of commanders. Most debate within the UK army at the moment is less on officer selection and more on officer training and development; namely the RMAS syllabus and the tactics used in the field exercises there, as well as special to arm training (Basic Officers Course in the US terminology) after officer training.

I will see if I can get some hard statistics on AOSB pass/fail rates and those for RMAS.

Happy to hear this. I think my point was that the AOSB should produce passes who are more likely to complete the course and obtain a commission rather than err on the side of leniency and push candidates through to maybe... just maybe... pull through on a wing and a prayer. Hard on the course, an additional unnecessary training cost and psychologically devastating on some of the individuals who fail in the end.

Of course the AOSB can't be foolproof and there will be those who make it through with flying colours yet fail to perform on the course. I believe that these cases should be studied and the AOSB reports reviewed to refine the process.

All this said IMHO if the OSB is an effective process then the vast majority of those who pass and go on to officer training should be commissioned in the end.

Having been on the receiving end of courses (as course officer) selected by others through an OSB process that I and the Course Instructors (NCOs) had to train in which it was quickly apparent there were no-hoper's became pretty irritating. These extras serve to further divide the attention that can be given to others to good effect in addition to being a waste of money.

All this said I do know from experience that there is always some pressure on the system to come up with 'right' number of commissions to fill the vacancies. This is the thin edge of the wedge that starts the rot.

Good if you can find some stats.