Pune: Service selection board interviews conducted by Armed Forces for the selection of officers is not a foolproof procedure, said Lt Colonel Sameer Rawat (retd) during a press conference to announce the WARMCAMP workshop on Military Psychology on Friday.
The 3-day workshop began on Saturday.
“Obsolete techniques are used in SSB interview, there is a lacuna in the procedure, which needs to be filled up.
“Even Britishers have changed their ways of selection but we are still following their old ways. Military psychology will play an important role to fill this gap,” Rawat said.
The purpose of this workshop is to create awareness about military psychology among military personnel, psychologists, students of psychology and the general public.
“Whether during war or post war, military psychology is gaining prime importance and should be developed as a separate stream, realising the need of time colleges and universities would soon offer undergraduate and post-graduate courses in military psychology,” added Rawat, who recently conducted a training workshop on military psychology for the officers and military psychologist of Romanian armed forces in Romania
Ole Boe, a former special forces officer of Norwegian army, said, “Miltary psychology is a subject dealing with military personnel and their families.
“It revolves around their well-being. Psychology is some thing, which makes military leaders best. Orders can be given by many but they are followed only by the military leaders, who have a good military psychology.”
Dr Merle Parmark, a retired captain and former research fellow at the Estonian National Defence College, who was involved in several NATO projects, said, “Military psychology is the new trend in the world. It’s in nascent stage across the countries and needs to be developed for the betterment of armed forces.”
Another expert Nicola Paget from the United Kingdom said, “Miltary psychology is not just about post stress traumatic disorders among military personnel.
It’s an important subject, which is going to do the wonders in the lives of armed personnel across the world. “It will improve their quality of life.”
