Click to see if you fit the fatigues

Do you have it in you? A smartly turned out young captain screams at you from huge hoardings put up by the army's recruitment directorate at vantage points across the country to attract youngsters to join the army.

The answer to that question might lie somewhere else. Now, top military psychologists under the ministry of defence (MoD) are busy putting together an online military aptitude test to enable aspirants to do a self-assessment on the Web and make the right choice -to help you figure out if you are cut out for a career in the military, or if civy street is your best bet.

The test will be posted online for army hopefuls within two months, said top military psychologist Dr Manas K. Mandal, who also heads the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR).

The test is purely aimed at helping aspirants find out if they have the potential for a military career. But it has no official sanctity to it, since those who fail to measure up to the specified parameters will not be debarred from applying for a career in the forces.

The number of suicides and fratricides in the army has been on the rise, which is one of the main factors for devising such a test module for candidates to evaluate themselves even before the formal selection process begins.

Mandal told HT: "The idea behind such self assessment is to hold the mirror up for youngsters aspiring for a military career. They should know what the job entails and what is their potential."

Military psychologists have also recommended modifying the selection system for both officers and men to ensure the forces get the right raw material.