Page 104 - JSOM Winter 2019

support from the rear. Performance fades if stress and recovery Instruments used for medical screening, diagnosis, and treat-
are not balanced or when the unit is inadequately supported. ment are more suited to disease management than to readiness
All Operators, female and male, and all ages, must be able to assessment.
perform common essential tasks equally well throughout the
mission, and much training requires a one-size-fits-all, stan- Heart in the Game
dard training plan. Not all SOF Operators need to train the Operators must have their hearts in the game by finding mean-
same; optimal high-performance training requires individual ing and purpose in the warrior role and lifestyle. SOF Oper-
customization in order to balance the training load and ad- ators must remain true to their Service and core values even
verse conditions, with recovery and rest. Psychomotor training when circumstances challenge them. To optimize spiritual as-
should be tailored to the person, role, and mission at hand. 1 pects of military performance, an Operator needs to under-
stand the mission and believe the mission has purpose. The
Readiness measures tailored to specific performance expec- Operator must feel a sense of membership with the group and
tations are necessary for training and mission teams to assess trust the team and its leadership. The Operator must likewise
and debrief their personal and team’s performance. Perfor- be trustworthy, have strong core beliefs and values, and re-
mance-based readiness measures should guide adjustments in main in a reinforcing support system.
training to change the focus or to increase or decrease the load
and time for rest, recovery, social engagement, and reflection. Operators are confronted with numerous moral and ethical
Families can be alerted to the framework and outline of the challenges in war. Exposure to potentially morally injurious
training plan but forewarned of potential changes and asked events can shake an Operator’s core beliefs and cause cogni-
for their forbearance and support. Performance-based readiness tive dissonance between their morals and actions. Within the
7
measures are critical to guide in-mission adjustments as well. same event an Operator may be the perpetrator, a witness, or a
victim of betrayal, particularly by trusted leadership. Religious
Head in the Game affiliation and adherence are both a strength and a vulnerabil-
Operators must have their head in the game at all times and in ity in these situations. If the dissonance goes unresolved, guilt,
tune with each phase of the deployment cycle. Keeping their shame, self-doubt, alienation, demoralization, self-handicap-
heads in the game goes beyond the limits of the psychological ping, self-harm, and interpersonal problems may result. 19,20
and overlaps the physical (sleep), spiritual (well-being, resil- Evidence that religiosity may provide structure and support
ience), and social (supportive relationships) aspects of readi- for spiritual performance exists, but likewise religiosity has
ness. Operators and spouses described psychological readiness been associated with greater cognitive dissonance. 21–23
as being alert, focused, and engaged. Optimal psychological
performance at any phase of the deployment cycle requires Measurement science of spiritual performance is in its in-
a balance between the psychological load experienced by the fancy. Measures have not had time to mature and develop a
Operator and their mental resources. Ready Operators demon- strong evidence base of validity. Measures of religiosity have
strate emotional balance, cognitive acuity and ability, eustress, not proven helpful in predicting spiritual performance and are
mental toughness, personal well-being, and balanced use of subject to bias, most often toward the Christian perspective.
substances and pursuit of excitement. Performance deteriorates However, it is well established that spiritual performance is
when stress-load accelerates to distress, with physical injury in- significantly related to well-being. 24–27
cluding mild traumatic brain injury and concussion, when sleep
debt accumulates, or self-perception of invulnerability becomes Key Modifiers
exaggerated. Load-related distress can manifest as emotional
lability, or it can unmask underlying mental illness. Operators are simultaneously in social relationships with the
unit, family, and community, which establishes three key mod-
To keep the head in the game, all Operators and spouses ben- ifiers of mission performance—family, leadership and culture,
efit from eliminating sleep-debt, scheduling time for rest and and time.
recovery, and building the capacity and capabilities of the
family. Combined training of the mind, body, and spirit builds Operators are very clear that their performance is directly
resolve, mental toughness, and unit/family cohesion and trust. impacted by worries about what is happening at home. The
Operator training requires mission-relevant measures of psy- Operator must know their loved ones are taken care of to per-
chological readiness based on scientific evidence of validity for form at their best. Many tasks important to the family are
use with healthy, highly intelligent, physical fit, and motivated covered in the predeployment checklists, yet optimal military
individuals. performance requires more than managing the logistical de-
tails of personal and family life.
Psychological measurement and instrument development are a
scientific process dependent on funding and the interests of the Department of Defense (DoD) policy strongly endorses mar-
scientific community. As a result, there is a bias toward disease riage but implicates the spouse as the primary unpaid readi-
metrics and significant gaps exist in current knowledge about ness assistant to the Operator. A “good” family that optimizes
how to quantify mental performance. For example, there is Operator mission performance is characterized by selfless ser-
disagreement and limited evidence of the elements of mental vice, emotional intelligence, flexibility, civic engagement, good
toughness, a performance-focused concept. 9,10 The same is true citizenship, strong executive skills, risk management, and fi-
about cognitive function. The current instruments are comput- nancial stability. At home, Operators may or may not be a
erized adaptations of physical and mental tests designed in the family readiness asset skilled in key family functions such as
context of dementia diagnoses. 11-16 They lack the sensitivity to communication, social engagement, parenting, conflict man-
detect performance changes in highly skilled individuals and agement and negotiation, and the ability to demonstrate emo-
are subject to technical and practical measurement errors. 17,18 tional intelligence. Many of these skills, if mastered, would

102 | JSOM Volume 19, Edition 4 / Winter 2019