Personality Profiles of Experienced U.S. Army Aviators Across Mission Platforms

Personality Profiles of U.S. Army Initial Entry Rotary Wing Students Versus Career Aviators

“…For example, Picano (1991) reported that the experienced Army aviators (i.e., instructor pilots) in his study typically cluster under the same set of personality characteristics that he defined as the "right stuff" for Army aviators. One reported investigation identified a baseline personality profile for experienced Army aviators using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992) which is based on the Five-Factor Model (Costa & McCrae, 1985) of personality (Grice & Katz, 2006). No published research has compared the personality profiles of experienced aviators with new student aviators.…”

“…Only four reported studies (Caldwell, O'Hara, Caldwell, Stephens, & Krueger, 1993;Geist & Boyd, 1980;Grice & Katz, 2006;Picano, 1991) examined the personality traits of Army rotary-wing aviators. Geist and Boyd (1980), using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), found that aviators report more pathology than non-aviators, with higher scores in hypochondriasis, depression, psychasthenia, social introversion, and hysteria.…”

“…Only Grice and Katz (2006) have explored the personality traits of career Army rotarywing aviators using the NEO-PI-R. They found that career aviators were low in Neuroticism and Openness while in the average range in the remaining factors, compared to a normative sample.…”

“…This was the rationale behind the use of the NEO-PI-R for evaluating the profiles of experienced Army aviators (Grice & Katz, 2006), as well as the current investigation. The NEO-PI-R is based on the factors and facets of the Five-Factor Model (FFM).…”

“…The Grice and Katz (2006) investigation was an initial step in creating a base of information for identifying the personality profile of experienced Army aviators based upon the NEO-PI-R. Surveying student aviators gives us some understanding of the personality profiles of individuals who are attracted to, and selected into, Army aviation today. A comparison of NEO-PI-R scores between the two groups enables the identification of traits that are similar and traits that are different.…”