NDU Vocational Assesment
When I got my letter to go for the Vocational Assessment(VA), I searched high and low online on what the procedure might be. I went for my VA in May 2017. I hope this helps!
Prior to the VA:
-take note of whether you fell sick or had runny nose or sinus within the past week or two
-the VA letter says to wear a cotton shirt but really, it's not necessary.
-your bag will be left in a room so don't bother packing books and all to kill time
-be prepared to interact with the other people there yeah
VA Day:
The campsite is quite ulu so it's better to take the shuttle bus provided. If you make your way there yourself, walk a bit deep into the Medical Centre (before NDU), don't go into the NDU area. So the day would just start with recording attendance and listening to a small talk by an instructor. Around 60 people would be randomly split into 3 different groups. Each group would have an officer(I think) attached to the group. The first station would either be a medical station or physical component. Mine was the physical component. We had to do push ups, sit ups and pull ups. That's all!
The second station was a simple 25 meter swim -breaststroke- which they would use to only judge your water confidence. A small towel is sufficient; avoid bringing large bathing towels. After the swim station would be a small "interview" with an instructor. He'll mainly ask about your interest, concerns and background. My values might be wrong but if I recall from him, about 500 would attend the VA, 120++(?) would get in (every year changes) and maybe only 80+ graduates from CDC. And of all these demographics, only about 4 gets into OCS. 4 yo that's damn little haha
The third station for me was the medical. They would check many areas such as height, weight, eyesight, Body Fat %, hearing, ECG, VO2 Max, eardrums and blood test. 3 tubes of blood yo. After obtaining the results, the Medical Officer (MO) would go through it and ask some health related questions before sending you for a compulsory chest X-ray. We had lunch while waiting for the X-ray guy to come back from his break. Prior to lunch, an officer would take your orders for either halal or non-halal food. The officers themselves would recommend getting halal food because it's nicer but looks the same to me and the non-halal tasted great too haha
So after lunch was the X-ray and the process was very fast. I was one of the earlier ones to complete so while waiting for everyone to complete, I had time to nap. After that, would be the chamber test. If the MO declares you unfit then you won't be able take the test. The guys on duty would also check and those who were sick, had sinus or flu might not be able to take the test too. So the chamber test is basically going into this chamber and they would alter the pressure to stimulate pressure felt during diving (I think). They would give you a change of clothes and in the chamber. ear muffs. As the pressure builds up, you would be doing vasalva maneuver to clear your ears. The process would be a little long as each session only allows around 8 people in the chamber.
So for me, during the chamber test I couldn't clear the pressure in one side of my ear and it was damn painful. I sounded out to the guy in the chamber with us and he asked me to drink a glass of water but I still couldn't clear. I had to leave the chamber and when the MO checked, he said I got a bruised ear drum and probably wouldn't get into NDU as a result. (oh btw if you don't get in, you will prpbably be posted to either commando or normal).
After the chamber test was written tests to test your personality and if im not wrong IQ. There would be a total of 4 sets of questionnaires and would take about 1.5 hours to complete? All questions were multiple choice. A bit complicated as it might get a bit messy with all the papers. Once that was done, the VA was completed!
I hope I helped and all the best yeah! Go in with an open mind and keep your options open! Getting into the VA already means you're the cream of the crop!
Prior to the VA:
-take note of whether you fell sick or had runny nose or sinus within the past week or two
-the VA letter says to wear a cotton shirt but really, it's not necessary.
-your bag will be left in a room so don't bother packing books and all to kill time
-be prepared to interact with the other people there yeah
VA Day:
The campsite is quite ulu so it's better to take the shuttle bus provided. If you make your way there yourself, walk a bit deep into the Medical Centre (before NDU), don't go into the NDU area. So the day would just start with recording attendance and listening to a small talk by an instructor. Around 60 people would be randomly split into 3 different groups. Each group would have an officer(I think) attached to the group. The first station would either be a medical station or physical component. Mine was the physical component. We had to do push ups, sit ups and pull ups. That's all!
The second station was a simple 25 meter swim -breaststroke- which they would use to only judge your water confidence. A small towel is sufficient; avoid bringing large bathing towels. After the swim station would be a small "interview" with an instructor. He'll mainly ask about your interest, concerns and background. My values might be wrong but if I recall from him, about 500 would attend the VA, 120++(?) would get in (every year changes) and maybe only 80+ graduates from CDC. And of all these demographics, only about 4 gets into OCS. 4 yo that's damn little haha
The third station for me was the medical. They would check many areas such as height, weight, eyesight, Body Fat %, hearing, ECG, VO2 Max, eardrums and blood test. 3 tubes of blood yo. After obtaining the results, the Medical Officer (MO) would go through it and ask some health related questions before sending you for a compulsory chest X-ray. We had lunch while waiting for the X-ray guy to come back from his break. Prior to lunch, an officer would take your orders for either halal or non-halal food. The officers themselves would recommend getting halal food because it's nicer but looks the same to me and the non-halal tasted great too haha
So after lunch was the X-ray and the process was very fast. I was one of the earlier ones to complete so while waiting for everyone to complete, I had time to nap. After that, would be the chamber test. If the MO declares you unfit then you won't be able take the test. The guys on duty would also check and those who were sick, had sinus or flu might not be able to take the test too. So the chamber test is basically going into this chamber and they would alter the pressure to stimulate pressure felt during diving (I think). They would give you a change of clothes and in the chamber. ear muffs. As the pressure builds up, you would be doing vasalva maneuver to clear your ears. The process would be a little long as each session only allows around 8 people in the chamber.
So for me, during the chamber test I couldn't clear the pressure in one side of my ear and it was damn painful. I sounded out to the guy in the chamber with us and he asked me to drink a glass of water but I still couldn't clear. I had to leave the chamber and when the MO checked, he said I got a bruised ear drum and probably wouldn't get into NDU as a result. (oh btw if you don't get in, you will prpbably be posted to either commando or normal).
After the chamber test was written tests to test your personality and if im not wrong IQ. There would be a total of 4 sets of questionnaires and would take about 1.5 hours to complete? All questions were multiple choice. A bit complicated as it might get a bit messy with all the papers. Once that was done, the VA was completed!
I hope I helped and all the best yeah! Go in with an open mind and keep your options open! Getting into the VA already means you're the cream of the crop!
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