Assessing Psychological Suitability for High-Risk Military Jobs

High-risk military operational personnel engage in physically and psychologically demanding missions under conditions of extreme threat (including combat) in which the consequences of performance failure can be severe or even catastrophic. These personnel typically undergo stringent psychological assessment and selection procedures in order to determine their psychological suitability for specialized, high-risk military assignments. Such assessment requires a thorough evaluation of an individual’s psychological and emotional health risks, training potential, job performance potential, and risk for personal misconduct and counterproductive work behaviors. Many military operational selection programs in the United States utilize the assessment center method for this purpose, whose rich heritage extends back to World War II. In this chapter, we discuss the constructs assessed and methods typically used in the assessment of high-risk military personnel, with emphasis on the psychological interview for the assessment of psychological suitability.