Page 38 - Australian Defence Mag Jul-Aug 2020
P. 38

       38 SIMULATION TRAINING
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
    LEFT: The
PC-21 is the newest addition to the RAAF fleet, a cockpit where successful candidates can end up.
 Unlike the old Flight Screening, ASP candidates won’t be getting their backsides in an aircraft. The closest they’ll come is to be given a crack at a Cockpit Procedural Trainer (CPT). Looking for all the world like a flight simulator, a CPT tunes muscles and eyes to the cockpit environment of the PC-21. The layout mimics the real thing, so student pilots can learn where things are and practice procedures on the ground. The candidates’ time in the CPT is for en- joyment and motivation only and is not used as part of the assessment process.
• task management
• multi tasking
• information processing • spatial awareness
• short-term memory.
  “TO GET TO ASP, CANDIDATES HAVE ALREADY MET HIGH EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS, RIGOROUS MEDICAL STANDARDS AND SHOWN SOME VERY STRONG COGNITIVE ABILITY.”
One of the great advantages of RAAF Base East Sale is presence of several training schools clustered on the base, which means candidates can get a good look at the places they’ll be working should they get offered a position. Not only does East Sale house Number 1 Flying Training School (1FTS) and the more advanced Central Flying School (CFS), but also the Air Mission Train- ing School (AMTS) and the School of Air Traffic Control (SATC).
The ability to fly an aircraft or have any previous aviation experience is not necessary.
“We’re testing people’s cognitive ability; it’s not a skills test,” WGCDR Broadbridge clarified. “We’re looking at their potential to get through the entire training program, and we do that by putting everyone through a series of 20 tests. Those tests are then combined to give results for a number of domains.
“These exercises are designed to find the best people we possibly can, so they are extremely challenging. You don’t need to get every question right to pass; the test is actually designed to push people as far as possible so that it’s highly unlikely that a candidate will get all the way to the end and get all the questions right.”
Also, if it hasn’t been explained enough already, the ADF is after more than pilots, so the test are designed to find a cer- tain type of person that could suit almost any OA position.
“Every candidate who comes down here, regardless of what their first preference of aviation job is, or whether they’ve nominated RAAF, army or navy, goes through ex- actly the same testing,” WGCDR Broadbridge explained. “In that way we can give all the job options to everyone. For Officer Aviation, being able to perform well in all of the domains is essential. Consequently when candidates do the tests, not only do they need to meet an overall score, but they also need to be able to meet the minimum standard for each domain.”
GETTING RESULTS
The reckoning comes at the end of the ASP. Each candi- date will be debriefed and given a print-out of their MACTS results. For the ADF advocates, it is the start of their deci- sion whether or not to nominate someone for an Officer
 Candidates will be briefed on each one, shown how the training is done and even have a crack at some of the training sys- tems used. They will talk to the very people that they will be working with or who will be teaching them in their
early military careers.
It’s more than just a tour; it’s an immersion in environ-
ment and culture that provides an invaluable experience for the candidates.
MACTS PERFORMANCE
At some stage the cohort will be ushered into a very silent room and planted at cubicles to do the MACTS. Presented with very non-standard keyboard and a series of exercises, candidates will spend two four-hour sessions on tasks de- signed to stretch their limits in several areas including:
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