The Sashastra Seema Bal was originally set up under the name Special Service Bureau (abbreviated SSB) on 15 March 1963 (current raising day is 20 December, after the date of presidential assent to the SSB Act, 2007), following the Sino-Indian War of 1962.

The primary task of the force was to provide armed support to the foreign intelligence division of Intelligence Bureau, which later became Research and Analysis Wing (after its creation in 1968). The secondary objective was to inculcate feelings of national belonging in the border population and assist them in developing their capabilities for resistance through a continuous process of motivation, training, development, welfare programmes and activities in the then NEFA, North Assam (the northern areas of the Indian state of Assam), North Bengal (the northern areas of the Indian State of West Bengal) and the hills of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. The programme was later extended to Manipur, Tripura, Jammu in 1965; Meghalaya in 1975; Sikkim in 1976; the border areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat in 1989; Manipur, Mizoram and further areas of Rajasthan as well as Gujarat in 1988; South Bengal (the southern areas of West Bengal); Nagaland in 1989; and the Nubra Valley, Rajouri and the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir in 1991.

Pursuant to the recommendations of a group of ministers on reforming the national security system, SSB was declared as a Border Guarding Force and Lead Intelligence Agency (LIA) for Indo-Nepal border (June, 2001) and assigned the task of guarding the 1751 km long Indo-Nepal border along the states of Uttarakhand, (263.7 km with 3 districts), Uttar Pradesh (599.3 km—with 7 districts), Bihar (800.4 km—with 7 districts), West Bengal (105.6 km—with 1 district) and Sikkim (99 km). In March 2004, SSB was assigned the task of guarding the 699 km stretch of Indo-Bhutan border along the states of Sikkim- (32 km), West Bengal (183 km—with 2 districts), Assam (267 km—with 4 districts) and, Arunachal Pradesh (217 km—with 2 districts).[4] Since then SSB was re-christened into Sashastra Seema Bal and reached new heights. SSB is the first border guarding force that has decided to recruit women battalions. It is doing excellent job as Border Guarding Force on Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan Border.

SSB is also engaged in Counter-Insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Anti-naxal operations in Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. It is also performing internal security duties i.e. Election duties and law and order duties in different parts of India. SSB celebrated the year 2013 as Golden Jubilee year marking 50 years of its raising. The celebrations have commenced with the Flag-off of a Mount Everest Expedition on 2 April 2013 from Delhi. The team led by Commandant Somit Joshi successfully reached at the peak at about 9:45 a.m. (IST) on 21 May 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary.

The UPSC CAPF recruitment for Assistant Commandants for Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is a lengthy procedure, and it takes around a year for the entire recruitment to be complete. The recruitment process starts with the release of the official notification, which gives data about important dates, vacancies, etc.

The Examination comprises of:-

1. Written Test
2. Physical Efficiency Test and Medical Standards Test
3. Interview/ Personality Test

SSB Exam Pattern	Marks	Duration
Written Test
Paper I: General Ability/ Intelligence	2 hours	250 marks
Paper-II: General Studies, Essay and Comprehension	3 hours	200 marks
Physical Efficiency Test	-	-
Personality Test	-	-

Paper I in the written exam objective and for every wrong answer, there is one-third negative marking. The final merit is calculated based on the marks as per the written exam and Interview.

The syllabus for the written exam

The syllabus for the written exam is quite vastly divided into different topics. The SSB syllabus includes subjects like geography, history, English, etc. and the paper is both objective and descriptive.

SSB Exam Syllabus	Topics
Paper I: General Ability/ Intelligence (objective)	Indian History Indian and World Geography General Science Indian Economy and Politics Logical Reasoning Quantitative Aptitude Numerical Ability Data Interpretation
Paper-II: General Studies, Essay and Comprehension Paper A: Essay Questions	Long and narrative essay ( Paper I syllabus for essay)
Paper B:	Comprehension, Precis writing and Communication/language skills

The Physical Efficiency Test (PET)

The Physical Efficiency Test (PET) and the Medical Standards Test are equally important parts of the recruitment process. Any candidate aspiring to qualify the CAPF exam needs to qualify for these two phases of the exam as well.

The Physical Efficiency Test for SSB includes:

Physical Efficiency for SSB	Male	Female
100 meters race	In 16 seconds	In 18 seconds
800 meters race	In 3 minutes 45 seconds	In 4 minutes 45 seconds
Long Jump	-	-
Shot Put	3 meter (3 chances)	3 meter (3 chances)

The eligibility criteria for the exam is as follows:

1. Candidate must not be more than 35 years of age. Age relaxation of 5 years is applicable for SC/ST candidates
2. The candidate must be a graduate from any Government recognised University.
3. Only three attempts per candidate are allowed.
4. Candidate must have served the organization for a minimum of 4 years.
5. The physical and medical standards are the same as the direct recruitment procedure.

SSB Physical Standards

SSB Physical Standards	Men	Women
Height	165 cm	157
Chest	81 cm	-
Weight	50 kg (as per height)	46 kg (as per height)

The medical standards required for applying for the SSB exam are as follows:

1. EyeSight: 6/6 or 6/9 for better vision and 6/9 and 6/12 fir worse vision.
2. Ear: Candidate must have no degree of deafness.
3. Speech: Candidate must not stammer.
4. Tattoo Clause: Candidate must not have any symbols on the saluting forearm. Only religious tattoos are allowed
5. Chronic Disease: Candidate must not have any chronic skin disease or any venereal disease.