A Black cat commando of the 28 Special Composite Group (SCG) Complex undergoing training

NEW DELHI: The NSG has included a new and comprehensive psychology test for entry level soldiers aspiring to be inducted and honed as ‘black cat’ commandos who undertake special counter-terror and counter-hijack operations in the country.

Till now the aspiring troops were put under rigorous physical and mental strength tests to get inducted into the premier federal contingency force.

Soldiers desirous of joining the National Security Guard (NSG), modelled on the lines of special counter-terror forces of the UK and Germany, will now have to undergo a special capsule of psychology tests and questions during the 3-month commando conversion course (CCC), a senior official in the Union home ministry said.

He said a threshold mark needs to be obtained by the soldier in the psychology test just like qualifying the other physical and mental parameters to be able to join the force.

The force had a “pressing” need for a full-time psychologist in its commando selection panel and experts of this domain have recently been hired in the NSG, he added.

The new system of induction will ensure that physically and mentally fit personnel are inducted into the force to become and perform as the best commando unit of the country, the official said.

The force was raised under an act of Parliament in 1984 as a federal contingency combat unit. It has undertaken numerous operations till now including the 26/11 Mumbai siege in 2008.