Dr. (Cdr.) N. K. Natarajan (Retd.) is the Founder, Chief Mentor and Director – Training and Innovation at AFPA. A retired Indian Navy Commander and former Services Selection Board professional, he brings deep experience in officer selection, behavioural assessment, GTO technique, and defence interview preparation.

His contribution to AFPA goes beyond classroom teaching. He has shaped the institution’s training philosophy, assessment standards, faculty-development approach, and candidate mentoring systems. His focus has always been on preparing candidates not through shortcuts or memorised answers, but through clarity, self-awareness, leadership behaviour, communication, team conduct, and genuine officer-like qualities.

As Chief Mentor, he continues to guide AFPA’s training framework and ensures that candidates are exposed to a disciplined, realistic and result-oriented approach to SSB preparation. His role as Director – Training and Innovation is centred on improving training quality, developing better feedback systems, strengthening faculty delivery, and keeping AFPA’s preparation methods aligned with the expectations of modern officer selection.