Developing a mental toughness program for basic military training

ABSTRACT

To build a warfighter from the ground up, training should include not only the core competencies required for job performance in the Fleet but also the mental toughness expected to handle the stress, fatigue, and call for sudden action required of all sailors on duty, regardless of occupation. Recruit Training Command (RTC) has embarked on a program to provide explicit training to recruits on the development of toughness in boot camp. This program is multifaceted, including three pilot programs (two all-male pilots, one integrated/mixed gender pilot) for mental skill training. Recruit divisions were assigned to either mental toughness (MT) condition or active control (AC). The MT group received daily, 10-min guided mindfulness exercises, three “just-in-time” trainings in sports psychology skills, and an on-command focusing exercise. Results varied across the three pilots with the exception of on-time graduation rates, which favored the MT condition in every pilot. Taken together, the three MT pilot studies show possible benefits for performance during boot camp with MT practice, and predictable advantages for graduation rates.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental toughness
• military
• performance psychology
• mindfulness

These studies demonstrate that implementation of a mental skills training program can enhance task performance in military recruits. This type of program is feasible even when using a train-the-trainer model where laypersons (e.g., Recruit Division Commanders; RDCs) teach the materials, as opposed to using subject matter experts (e.g., psychologists), who are a limited resource in the military.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Jeffrey Millegan, M.D., and Kathryn Holloway, Ph.D. for authoring early versions of scripts used for interventions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, DH, upon reasonable request.