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

The Objective Force defines the U.S. Army as it is expected to exist within the next 30 to 50 years (U.S. Army, 2001). The Objective Force will be supported by Future Combat Systems (FCSs) that will improve the speed, maneuverability, fighting capacity,and survivability of the Army's combat operations. Transformation to the Objective Force obviously requires tremendous advances in technology to provide the FCSs that will enable the Objective Force. Just as importantly, however, the Army recognizes theimportance of its soldiers in the effectiveness of the transformation, both in terms of making the transition and working effectively within the new systems. This transition will require Objective Force Soldiers (OFS) to possess unprecedentedinterpersonal skills in order to achieve success in their new unit structures. . The goal of this effort is to develop innovative assessment techniques that can be used to select, assign and identify training needs for future soldiers. The final resultof the Phase II effort will be a comprehensive assessment battery to measure the interpersonal/interaction KSA's required for the OFW.A comprehensive assessment battery covering interpersonal KSAs could be applied to a wide variety of military andindustrial settings. The proposed tool will measure an individual's ability to interact effectively with team members, customers, and colleagues in a wide variety of settings. The tool will provide both the ability to assess candidates on a wide varietyof KSAs that are required for successful interpersonal interactions and the capability of identifying areas for remediation. The tool will be useful in military teams as well as non-military settings such customer service oriented occupations (e.g. callcenters).