Indian Navy Conducts Maiden Standardisation Exercise at SSB Kolkata to Refine Officer Induction
The Indian Navy has held its first Naval Standardisation Exercise at the Naval Service Selection Board (SSB) in Kolkata, bringing together officers and selection personnel from across its recruitment network to review and align the process of officer induction. The five-day exercise ran from August 18 to 22, 2026, and was aimed at improving consistency in the way candidates are assessed across Naval SSBs.
Conducted under the aegis of the Personnel Branch/Directorate of Manpower Planning and Recruitment (DMPR) at Naval Headquarters, the exercise was organised in conjunction with the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DRDO/DIPR). The collaboration added a professional and scientific dimension to the initiative, which focused on strengthening the Navy’s selection framework.
Representatives from the Naval SSBs at Bengaluru, Bhopal and Visakhapatnam, along with the Coast Guard SSB (CGSB) at Noida, took part in the exercise alongside the host board in Kolkata. Their participation created a common platform for those involved in the officer selection process to compare approaches, share professional experience and examine where greater standardisation is needed.
The discussions centred on the officer induction mechanism and on ways to ensure more uniform selection-related procedures across the different boards. By bringing together teams from multiple locations, the exercise allowed participants to exchange operational perspectives and identify practices that could be applied more widely within the broader induction system.
According to the information shared on the exercise, the interactions helped participants draw useful takeaways for improving the overall framework through which the Navy selects future officers. The aim was not only to compare existing methods, but also to identify areas where coordination between boards could be strengthened.
DRDO/DIPR’s involvement was intended to support more robust and contemporary selection practices. Its participation also reflected the Navy’s effort to bring together operational experience and psychological research in refining how officer candidates are assessed.
The maiden Naval Standardisation Exercise is being viewed as an important step towards greater coordination and uniformity among the Indian Navy’s officer selection establishments. The exercise’s outcomes and recommendations are expected to contribute to improving the quality, consistency and effectiveness of officer induction into the service.
Those insights, the Navy said, would help shape the selection and development of capable future naval leaders by making the induction process more coherent across its various boards.
