The Army Officer Selection Board (OSB) is not as tough as the Air Force one.
As long as you have the appropriate personality to be an Officer (i.e. initiative, determination, confidence, courage, competitiveness/aggression, discipline, sense of humour, equal treatment of others, + others) and clearly show your leadership potential during the teamwork exercises (obstacle courses), you'll pass.
They make you wear bibs with numbers on them so if number 7 is calling the shots (and everyone else is listening) then the markers would jot down that 7 is going good. Half of the OSB is based on how you perform in the teamwork exercises and the other half is a face-to-face interview, to test your responding skills, clarity, and to clarify any personal academic/personality issues the panel members may think will hinder your selection.
I failed the OSB because: I stutter occasionally, and that I wasn't aggressive enough in pushing for my ideas to be heard during the teamwork obstacle course.
Desite cracking up the panel members on several occasions, writing an "intriguing" plan on what to do in a hostage situation, having clear and effective plans on how to complete the obstacle course, and passing the fitness test with flying colours, my only shortcoming was the most vital aspect of the OSB: personality. I'm quite timid and didn't vocally fight for what I believed was effective and correct. My team bickered about what to do at the obstacle course so I should have just shouted "shut the hell up! One person talks at a time! Okay, number 1, what's your idea? I say blah blah blah, any problems with that?"
If the teamwork is sloppy, not many individuals will pass. People who are shallow-minded and think their plan is always the best, fail. They didn't show respect for other's opinions and showed clear selfishness and prejudice. Those who get silenced by the selfish ones fail too, because they didn't do enough to tell the shallow-minded bastard to shut up so everyone else can have their chance to chip in.
Oh well, I've got 12 months to get aggressive, kill my stuttering, conceive the perfect plan for the obstacle course, before I can apply again, and go through my JOES and Assessment days, again. How fun.
Ending on a relevant note, the government lost lots of money because of the Free Fare Day.
! coz thats free too.
