AFM Officer Cadet

Expect assessment of your knowledge of the AFM as an organisation and of the judgement expected of a future officer. The published structure gives the natural syllabus: Force Headquarters, 1, 3 and 4 Regiment, the Air Wing, the Maritime Squadron, and operations and deployments. Learn sub-units and the chain of command cold, because those are checkable facts.

The AFM consists of a Force Headquarters and five separate units – three land units, an air wing and a maritime squadron – plus a Volunteer Reserve Force. Memorise the five units first, then attach sub-units: 1 Regiment's companies, 3 Regiment's technical squadrons, 4 Regiment's support elements, the Air Wing's squadrons and the Maritime Squadron's commands.

The Malta Armed Forces Act 1970 empowers the President of Malta, as Head of State, to delegate the command and authority vested in the office to the democratically elected Government, exercisable by the Minister for Home Affairs and Security, and answerable to Parliament. Questions on civil control of the military usually hinge on this chain, so learn it in order.

3 Regiment comprises squadrons including Headquarters, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Combat Engineer, and Ammunition and Explosives. It is the technical and engineering backbone, so expect questions linking function to squadron name. Do not confuse it with 4 Regiment, which holds Headquarters, the AFM Band, C2S Company, Training School and the Revenue Security Corps.

The AFM lists EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation ATALANTA, EUTM Somalia, EUFOR Libya, EUBAM Rafah, EUMM Georgia, OSCE operations, UNIFIL in Lebanon and FRONTEX. Learn the mission acronym, the region and the organisation behind each. National operations are grouped as Operations Centre, Land Operations, Maritime Operations and Air Operations, so keep the two lists separate in your notes.

Not published on the source material reviewed here, so treat any figure you hear as unverified and confirm it with the AFM recruitment channel. Do not build a study plan around a rumoured duration or pass mark. Instead, prepare until you can answer organisation and unit questions without hesitation, then check the current call for confirmed details.

The retake policy is not stated in the source material, so it cannot be confirmed here. Because the AFM issues a number of Calls for Enlistment through the year, a later call may be the practical route back in. Ask the recruiting staff directly about eligibility, waiting periods and whether feedback is available before you reapply.

Start with Force Headquarters and organisation, because every other domain assumes it: the 1970 Act, the command chain and the five-unit structure. Then take the three land units together, followed by the Air Wing and Maritime Squadron, learning each unit's sub-units by name. Finish with operations, deployments and careers, which tie the structure to what the force actually does.

Mixing up which regiment owns which sub-unit, especially 3 and 4 Regiment; forgetting the VRF when listing components; and confusing national operations with overseas missions. A second trap is quoting stale recruitment details instead of the current call. Build a one-page structure diagram and redraw it from memory until it is exact.

The AFM states it has a number of Calls for Enlistment throughout the year for Regular Soldiers, Regular Soldiers with Trades, Regular Soldiers with a Musical Background, Officers and Pilots, with application forms downloadable through its recruitment link. Check the AFM Careers pages and the recruitment portal for the live call, closing dates and eligibility, and ignore unofficial summaries.