Analysis of Army Family Research Program Measures of Individual Readiness

The Army Family Research Program (AFRP) was initiated in Fall 1986 to examine the role that families play in soldier readiness. The core of the research was a large-scale survey of Army soldiers and their spouses. To determine the impact of family and Army factors on readiness, it was necessary to identify one or more reliable measures of individual readiness. Candidate individual readiness measures or dimensions were initially identified through a review of the military readiness literature. A set of 12 behaviorally anchored readiness scales were developed from critical incidents collected from field grade officers and senior NCOs. In addition, a number of other readiness measures were developed by the project team. Factor analyses of the readiness measures were conducted, and the Alpha reliabilities of alternate readiness composites were obtained. The 12 readiness scales were found to constitute a single factor. The most reliable measure of readiness was the average of the first-and second-level supervisory ratings on these scales. Prepared in cooperation with Caliber Associates, Human Resources Researc Organization, rept. no. IR-PRD-91-04 and the Univ. of North Carolina.