WHO WANT TO BE A SOS&ACSC CANDIDATES...??

Maj. Dolly JP. Hutagalung - IDAF

SOS is the abbreviation for Squadron Officer School, it is a special course where every officer with Captain rank is compulsory joining du toe part of the Major rank requirement. And ACSC is the abbreviation for Air Command and Staff College, it is also a special course where every officer with a Major rank is compulsory joining du toe part of the Lieutenant Colonel rank requirement; at least, those terms happened in the USAF and Indonesian Airforce (IDAF). On the other hand, every military in each country has its courses such as SOS and ACSC with different names and syllabi according to their perspective and objective. Special for this blog, allow me to share a little story about my experiences undergoing USAF SOS and also ACSC want a be, from a student recruitment perspective.

IDAF has its requirements for USAF SOS and ACSC candidates. Generally, every candidate must pass the domestic test from each program such as Sekkau for SOS and Seskoau for ACSC. After that, both of them must pass stages of the English language test starting from ALCPT (min scores 85) at Disdikau until ECL (min scores 80) at the ODC US embassy. Besides that, candidates must pass minimum duty periods according to their rank, starting from officer graduation until now (check the latest rule). This is The most important thing, that your name must be registered by our unit through the squadron commander authority. The last one, after your name registers, make sure your superior unit (Binprof) who has the authority for arranging candidates according to some rules and circumstances, picks up your name from the list. Then finally, you will get the letter of command for attending the IDAF SOS or ACSC test. It was very simple, right? 

            Believe it or not, besides our skill and capability to accomplish all the tests and requirements, sometimes X-factors also have a significant role. It starts from the momentum, which is the availability of SOS or ACSC courses that year, the number of seats for IDAF candidates, and all of the competitor officers who have been registered for the test. In my experience during the SOS test in 2017, there were 4 seats with 4 candidates, and all of them passed the English tests and the domestic test, even though I become the last rank at the ECL test with a score of 80 (pass on limit). Moreover, the condition was tougher during the ACSC test in 2022, there were 2 seats with 7 candidates, however just 2 officers passed including me.

            I believe definitely, my mother’s prays have a role in all my successes. Before I do the test I always ask for prayer from her, and I believe all conveniences I got it is because of that. Islam believes that Allah’s blessing is the blessing of parents, especially mothers; and this happened with me during the SOS and ACSC test. My mother’s words always became spirit fuel; moreover, my nuclear family always prayed and support me from the house. Therefore, our hard work should be powered by prays, for last let God do the rest.

          To conclude, I bring up a quote “Where is the will, there is the way.” Aim for your goals, continue with constructive planning, and stick with that. We should be sure all our hard work will pay off at the end of the day. So, just do it!

End.