title: Training success in U.S. Navy special forces.
abstract: Several aspects of success in an intensive military training experience on a select group of military trainees were studied. The primary dependent variables were differences in questionnaire scores between graduates and those who drop, and questionnaire score changes from pretest to posttest in graduates. A total of 336 trainees at the U.S. Navy 's Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALS (BUD/S) training school were tested at the beginning of their training period; 6 months later, all successful trainees were retested on graduation. The total sample was divided into two groups for replication. Results indicated that graduates differed consistently from drops on the Estimation scale of the Physical Estimation and Attraction Scale (PEAS), and four scales on the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI); graduates showed consistent posttest changes in the Estimation scale, three out of six scales on the Profile of Mood States (POMS), plus four scales on the HPI. Differences between graduates and drops suggested that some aspects of the PEAS and HPI could be used as a screening device in order to reduce attrition. Posttest changes on the PEAS, POMS, and HPI in Graduates were in part consistent with previous work and in part somewhat new, indicating both general and unique features of the BUD/S training experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hodgdon
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000193:education*; D010551:Personality; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011592:Psychology, Military; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States