Identifying and Assessing Interaction Knowledges, Skills, and Aptitudes for Objective Force Soldiers

The focus of this Phase I SBIR effort will be twofold. First, we will use primarily existing resources (literature review and applied research) to identify the interaction/interpersonal knowledge, skills, and aptitudes (KSAs) required by the Army'sObjective Force soldiers. This work will be aimed at specifying the KSAs that are determinants of the critical OFS performance components that have been identified in previous ARI work (NCO21, Select21). Having identified the target KSAs, the next stepwill be to formulate a plan for their assessment. This assessment plan will include a combination of relatively traditional measurement methods, some that may be adapted for computer administration, and more experimental techniques that take moreextensive advantage of advances in computer technology. Key to the success of this effort will be the ability to create psychometrically sound assessment tools that are easy to use and meet the needs of the intended application(s) in the U.S. Army. Theassessment package will be designed to support selection of soldiers (e.g., for MOS requiring particularly high levels of these KSAs), but will also be useful as a diagnostic tool for identifying KSAs that may require remedial training. A comprehensiveassessment battery covering interpersonal KSAs could be applied to a wide variety of military and industrial settings. The proposed tool will measure an individual's ability to interact effectively with team members, customers, and colleagues in a widevariety of settings. The tool will provide both the ability to assess candidates on a wide variety of KSAs that are required for successful interpersonal interactions and the capability of identifying areas for remediation. The tool will be useful inmilitary teams as well as non-military settings such customer service oriented occupations (e.g. call centers).