Table of Contents
Introduction to Command Tasks
In the Command Task, one candidate, the Commander, is solely responsible for getting a small team across an obstacle. The GTO briefs a single obstacle: a start line, then one to four painted structures (posts, platforms, drums and beams at different heights and spacings, often staggered), then a finish line.
- You pick your helpers, usually two, from the group and brief them. They carry out your orders.
- The task runs for about 10–15 minutes.
- The GTO may add a twist mid-task: take away the rope, repaint a structure or declare a helper "injured".
💡 What This Guide Teaches
This guide covers the rules and mechanics you need to solve a command task: the materials, the colour code and general rules, and why bridges, cantilevers and stoppers work. Knowing them means you won't fail through a broken rule or a plank that tips.
⚠️ Important Disclaimer
Real SSB assessment is different: the GTO evaluates your Officer-Like Qualities (OLQs) through how you plan, brief, lead and stay calm on the ground, not only whether the team gets across. Mechanical knowledge is necessary but not sufficient for success.
Know Your Materials
Material comes in a few standard pieces. Learn the names: the GTO, your helpers and other candidates will all use them.
Fatta (plank)
A wooden plank, about 5 ft long. Your main bridging and cantilever member.
Balli (log)
A round wooden log or pole, about 5 ft long (sometimes one large, one small). Bridges and cantilevers like a fatta, and other members can rest on it.
Rassi (rope)
A rope, about 6 ft long. Tie it to a structure, for example as a loop on a taller post that holds down the rear of a cantilever. Never use it to tie two rigid members together.
Load (drum)
Something the team must carry across, usually a drum. It is never helping material.
✅ The Inventory Habit
Before planning, check what you actually have: which members, the rope, the load and your helpers. Estimate each gap against a 5 ft member. A gap the fatta can't span with both ends resting needs a cantilever or an extension.
The Rules the GTO Enforces
The Colour Rule
Every structure is painted. The colour tells you who and what may touch it:
White
Men, material and the load may all touch it.
Red
Nothing may touch it: no men, no material, no load.
Blue
Men only. Material must not touch it, though it may be carried over it.
Some boards use yellow or green for the men-only colour instead of blue. Always confirm the colour code during the GTO's briefing.
General Rules
Distance rule: A gap wider than about 4 ft must be bridged. You may not step or jump across it.
Rigidity rule: Never tie two rigid materials (fatta, balli) together. One may rest on another. Tying rope to a structure, or rope to rope, is allowed.
Infinity rule: Treat every obstacle as extending endlessly to both sides. You go over it, never around it.
Out of bounds: All ground between the start line and the finish line is out of bounds. Men, material and the load must never touch it.
Load rule: The load (usually a drum) must be carried across. It is never helping material: no standing on it, no resting a plank on it.
⚠️ "Rule Broken"
When a rule is broken, the GTO says "Rule broken", often without saying which one. The team goes back to the previous structure and carries on from there. Work out which rule it was before giving the next order.
Bridging Principles
Every command task is a chain of gaps. For each one, the simplest legal answer is usually the best:
Bridging
A member rests on two white structures, with a little bearing on each end.
[WHITE]═══════FATTA═══════[WHITE]
^^ out of bounds ^^✅ When to use: the gap is shorter than the member, with room for both ends to rest
Carrying Forward
Once the team has crossed a bridged member, pull it up onto the new structure and use it again for the next gap.
✅ When to use: always plan which member each gap needs, and in what order
💡 Key Principle: What Can Support a Member
- A white structure
- The tip of another member, by resting on it (never tied)
- A stopper or counterweight holding down the rear of a cantilever
Never the ground (out of bounds), never a red structure, and never a blue one (men only).
The Cantilever Principle
When a gap is too wide to bridge, push a member out past the edge of a structure so its tip shortens the gap. A cantilever has three parts: the member, the fulcrum (the edge of the structure) and a stopper that holds the rear end down.
How a Cantilever Works
══════ ← overhead bar (stopper)
═══FATTA═══╪═════════▶ tip [NEXT]
[STRUCTURE]│ └gap┘
└ edge = fulcrumThe weight of the projecting part, and of anyone walking out on it, tries to rotate the member about the edge. The stopper pushes the rear end down and stops that rotation. The further the tip reaches, the harder the stopper has to hold.
Overhead bar
Slide the rear end under a bar on the same structure.
Rope loop
Tie the rassi as a loop on a taller post and trap the rear end under it.
Counterweight
A helper stands on the rear end. Plan how that last man gets across.
✅ Worked Example
The gap is 6 ft and you have a 5 ft fatta. It can't bridge the gap, because both ends need to rest on a structure. Instead:
- Put about 1.5 ft of the fatta under the overhead bar on your structure.
- About 3.5 ft now projects over the gap.
- The gap left is 6 − 3.5 = 2.5 ft, well under 4 ft, so the team steps across from the tip.
Why the "1/3 Rule" Fails
A popular tip says a cantilever is safe if one third of the plank rests on the support. It isn't. A uniform plank balances about its centre, halfway along its length.
The Arithmetic
rear end edge (fulcrum)
|── L/3 ──|────── 2L/3 ───────▶
[SUPPORT] │ ● centre of mass at L/2
└ L/6┘ past the edge, so it tips- The edge sits L/3 from the rear end; the centre of mass sits L/2 from it.
- So the centre of mass is L/6 past the edge, over the gap.
- The plank tips into the gap the moment it is let go, before anyone even steps on it.
⚠️ Even Half on the Support Isn't Enough
With half the plank on the support, the centre sits exactly on the edge. It balances, but the first man who steps onto the projecting part tips it.
✅ The Real Principle
A cantilever needs its rear held down by a stopper (an overhead bar, or a rope loop on a taller post) or by a counterweight. The structure's edge is the fulcrum. No ratio of plank on the support replaces the stopper.
Extension by Resting (Never Lash)
When one member can't reach, a second member can rest on the tip of the first and reach the next structure. The joint is a rest, never a tie.
══════ stopper
══BALLI══╪══════●═══FATTA═══[NEXT]
[START] │ ↑
edge fatta rests on the tip, never tied⚠️ Don't Rope Planks Together
Lashing a fatta to a balli, or two fattas together, to make one long member breaks the Rigidity rule. The GTO will call "Rule broken".
💡 Where the Rope Is Allowed
- Rope to a structure: for example, a loop on a taller post that acts as a stopper
- Rope to rope
- A rigid member resting on another rigid member
Out of Bounds: Red, Blue and the Ground
The "river" or "nullah" between the structures is imaginary. What matters is that all ground between the start line and the finish line is out of bounds, on top of the colour code.
⚠️ Popular "Solutions" That Are Illegal
- Standing a balli upright in a trench or gap as a middle support: its foot touches the ground
- Placing a drum in the middle of the gap: it touches the ground, and the load is never helping material
- Resting a plank end on a red structure, or letting material touch a blue (men-only) one
- Walking round the end of an obstacle: the Infinity rule forbids it
Why These Constraints Exist
- ✅ Test observation and precision
- ✅ Force a plan before execution
- ✅ Reveal impulsive decision-making
- ✅ Show how you react to "Rule broken"
What GTOs Observe
- 📋 Did you read every colour before starting?
- 📋 Did you plan the full route beforehand?
- 📋 Did you adapt calmly after a violation?
- 📋 How clearly did you brief your helpers on hazards?
✅ A Safe Routine
- Survey first: note every structure's colour, height and the gap to the next one
- Classify each gap: step it (under about 4 ft), bridge it, cantilever it or extend it
- Brief helpers: "Red post on the left: nothing touches it"
- Re-check before each order: where will both ends of the member land?
Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
1. Placing Without Planning (Rushing)
The Mistake: Grabbing material and placing it before surveying the whole obstacle.
Why It Fails: Colour codes and gap widths get discovered mid-task, so the team backtracks and wastes time.
✅ How to Fix:
Spend the first minute only observing: structures, colours, heights, gap widths and materials. Then plan the full route before giving the first order.
2. Touching Red or Out-of-Bounds Ground
The Mistake: A plank end resting on a red structure, a foot on the ground between structures, or a balli stood upright in the gap.
Why It Fails: Each one is a violation. The GTO says "Rule broken" and the team goes back to the previous structure.
✅ How to Fix:
Before every order, trace where each end of the material and each man will land. Only white takes material; nothing touches the ground.
3. Tying a Fatta to a Balli
The Mistake: Lashing two short members together with the rassi to make one long one.
Why It Fails: It breaks the Rigidity rule: two rigid materials may never be tied together.
✅ How to Fix:
Rest one member on the other (extension by resting), or use the rope to hold a member to a structure.
4. A Cantilever With Nothing Holding the Rear
The Mistake: Pushing a plank out over the gap and expecting a "safe length" on the support to hold it.
Why It Fails: Without a stopper or counterweight, the plank tips as soon as anyone walks out on it.
✅ How to Fix:
Ask: is there an overhead bar, a taller post for a rope loop, or a helper who can stand on the rear end?
5. Stepping a Gap That Is Too Wide
The Mistake: Letting the team stride across a gap wider than about 4 ft because it looks manageable.
Why It Fails: It breaks the Distance rule, and the GTO will call it out.
✅ How to Fix:
Bridge every gap over about 4 ft. If a cantilever tip leaves a short gap, that residual may be stepped.
6. Poor Briefing of Helpers
The Mistake: Giving orders without explaining the plan, the colours or each helper's job.
Why It Fails: Helpers execute literally. An unbriefed helper drags a plank across a red post or steps off the structure.
✅ How to Fix:
Brief in one breath: the route, the colour hazards and who holds what. Then give short, specific orders.
Practice Tips
How to Use the Command Task Game
- Start at Recruit: quick puzzles of about a minute with the fatta, bridging and the Distance rule
- Order the team across: placing the last bridge is not enough. Tap a structure with nothing selected to move the team, and the puzzle is solved when it stands on Finish
- Move up a tier: Cadet adds the balli, red and blue structures and bar cantilevers; Commander adds rope stoppers and extensions
- Play the daily challenge: three puzzles, one from each tier, the same for everyone that day
- Learn from "Rule broken": the team goes back a structure. Work out which rule you broke before retrying
- Count your orders: the fewest orders that work is the most elegant plan
Puzzles are short drills. A real Command Task takes about 10–15 minutes.
✅ Good Practice Habits
- ✓ Read every colour before the first order
- ✓ Measure each gap against a 5 ft member
- ✓ Find the stopper before planning a cantilever
- ✓ Rest members on each other; never tie them
- ✓ Carry bridged members forward
- ✓ Aim for the minimum number of orders
❌ Bad Practice Habits
- ✗ Tapping material without a plan
- ✗ Using the ground or the load as a support
- ✗ Trusting a "safe ratio" instead of a stopper
- ✗ Stepping gaps wider than about 4 ft
- ✗ Ignoring which rule was broken
- ✗ Always playing the same tier
📚 Supplementary Study
- • Physics refresher: centre of mass, levers, fulcrum and torque
- • Real GTO videos: watch how commanders brief helpers and react to "Rule broken"
- • Practise with real material: a plank, a pole and a rope between two boxes
- • Team practice: work with two friends as helpers to practise short, clear orders
⏱️ Progression Milestones
Recruit:
✓ Bridge gaps with the fatta and carry it forward
✓ Apply the Distance rule without thinking
Cadet:
✓ Never touch red; keep material off blue
✓ Use the balli and build bar cantilevers
Commander:
✓ Build rope-loop stoppers and extensions by resting
✓ Solve close to the minimum number of orders
✓ Recover calmly from "Rule broken" with no reason given
Ready to Practice?
Put these rules to work in quick puzzles: Recruit, Cadet and Commander tiers, plus a daily challenge.
🎯 Practice on Command Task — quick puzzles →