ASTB-E Performance Based Measures (PBM), Explained

Where it sits in the ASTB-E

Source: NMOTC ASTB-E Overview and FAQ. The full battery takes 2 hours to 3 hours 15 minutes; if you take only the OAR, you won't see the PBM.

The four components, in plain words

NMOTC doesn't publish screen-by-screen details, so read these as explanations of the abilities, not descriptions of the exact tasks.

• Spatial orientation. Keeping track of direction and attitude in three dimensions: which way something points, turns or tilts, worked out from what you see.
• Dichotic listening. Dichotic means a different sound in each ear at the same time. The skill is attending to the channel that matters and picking out what you're asked for while the other ear hears something else.
• Stick-and-throttle tracking. A tracking task asks you to keep a moving marker on a target with continuous small corrections. Here the controls are a stick and a throttle, the same kind a pilot uses. Overcorrecting makes the marker swing past the target; small, early inputs keep it close.
• Multitasking. Combining two or more of these tasks at once, which tests how well you divide attention.

These are everyday flying skills. A pilot holds attitude and heading with small control inputs, keeps a mental picture of where the aircraft is, and picks out the one radio call meant for them among many, often all at the same time.

How it's scored

Not published. Full-battery takers receive the OAR plus AQR, PFAR and FOFAR stanines (1–9); pilot selection uses AQR and PFAR, flight officer selection AQR and FOFAR. The formulas are proprietary and compensatory, so no one outside NMOTC can tell you what a PBM performance is worth. We show no PBM score.

Why we don't simulate it

Tracking and multitasking depend on the physical controls, the screen and the timing, and a phone or browser can match none of them. A rough imitation could train the wrong feel. So we explain the PBM and point you to practice that builds the same abilities.

How to prepare anyway

• Mental rotation. Practice working out an aircraft's attitude and heading from a picture. Our generated Spatial Apperception sets, built for the Army's SIFT, drill that skill.
• Stick-and-throttle feel. If you can, spend some time with flight simulator software and a joystick. Smooth, small corrections are the habit to build.
• Divided attention. Practice keeping one steady task going while you respond to something else, and notice when your accuracy slips.
• Rest. The PBM sits inside a long battery, so arrive rested.

None of this is a promise about your result; it's practice of the abilities the PBM names.

Retests and the PBM

A full-battery retest repeats every part, the PBM included, and scores can't be mixed between attempts. Retests require 30 full calendar days, you get three attempts at most, and your most recent attempt replaces all earlier scores, even higher ones.

FAQ