This research consisted of two phases. In the initial phase, covered in this report, emphasis was placed on identification of psychological constructs that were determined to be critical for operational units as they prepared to deploy. To support the research objectives, a comprehensive literature review including academic and military sources was conducted and approximately one hundred Soldiers and leaders were interviewed. Several meta-constructs were identified, each of which had multiple sub-constructs embedded within them. Interviews with Soldiers and leaders assisted in reducing the list to those intangibles most critical to mission readiness and identifying training gaps related to the criticality and effectiveness of the relevant intangibles. This identification assisted the second phase of this research that focused on instrument development and identification of effective learning methods; the second phase is covered in a second report. See also ARI

The U.S. Army Research Institute is developing and piloting measures of Soldier initiative and perseverance to enhance Soldier mental toughness and readiness for their assigned mission set. Potential uses of the measures are to both assess and develop Soldier initiative and perseverance as part of their individual and collective unit training. In the current research, evidence for construct validity was gathered by administering measures of initiative and perseverance to 151 Soldiers. Additional evidence for construct validity and the usability of the measures in the field was obtained by conducting a pilot test with 10 noncommissioned officers serving in positions of acting squad leader during Medical Simulation Training Center training lanes.