The History of Special Operations Psychological Selection.

Abstract

The history of special operations psychology is relatively recent. Although what is now called special operations can be traced to the very beginnings of the United States, it had its modern start in the 1940s, during World War II. During that war, such units as the U.S. Army Rangers, Merrill's Marauders (the 5307th Composite Unit [Provisional]), and the 1st Special Service Force began the long road to institutionalizing the concept of special operations in the U.S. military. One of the better known U.S. special operations organizations of the war was the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). In late 1943, tapping into the patriotism and dedication of some of the best psychologists in the United States, the OSS established the first psychological assessment center in the United States (MacKinnon, 1980; Morgan, 1957; OSS Assessment Staff, 1948). Ten years later, when U.S. Army Special Forces was created, halting steps were taken to use psychological assessment as part of the selection process. Over the years, this program waxed and waned, and it was eventually eliminated during the Vietnam War. 1 'Although I have been unable to document the reason for this elimination, the success of Special Forces operations in Vietnam and the need for greater numbers of Special Forces soldiers than a strict selection program could supply likely were the major causes.

Operational Psychology Post-9/11: A Decade of Evolution

“…Although psychology has always played a role in the art of war, some have suggested that it reached its zenith toward the close of WWII with the establishment of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, 1948;Banks, 2006). Although well beyond the scope of this article, we would recommend that the reader review the exploits of the OSS and their cadre of distinguished psychologists who made significant impact on America's clandestine military and intelligence efforts during WWII.…”

“…Although well beyond the scope of this article, we would recommend that the reader review the exploits of the OSS and their cadre of distinguished psychologists who made significant impact on America's clandestine military and intelligence efforts during WWII. Their state-of-the-art special mission personnel selection and training programs have been chronicled by a number of authors (Banks, 2006;Handler, 2001;OSS, 1948;. It is to this legacy that most contemporary operational psychologists turn when describing what they do and how they do it.…”

Psychological aptitude evaluation of the special forces candidate

“…Although psychological testing for screening special forces (SF) candidates has been around for many decades,1 2 there is little information in the medical and scientific literature regarding its effectiveness and use. The literature that is available appears to prioritise ‘ psychological hardiness ’ as a key parameter predicting success in an SF role3 and while reports of psychological testing used for general military candidates is available, information is lacking in the context of SF candidates 4.…”

Factors Underlying the Psychological and Behavioral Characteristics of Office of Strategic Services Candidates: TheAssessment of MenData Revisited

“…Thus, this matrix is perhaps the only multivariate vestige of the herculean effort embodied in this important chapter of psychological assessment, an effort that gave birth to the modern assessment center approach that is in use today (Bhyham, 2002). The insights gleaned from the OSS program are still deemed important, not only from a historical perspective, but because they continue to inform operational personnel selection today (Banks, 2006). This study seeks to explore the original OSS data further with the intention of providing greater quantitative and conceptual clarity on the general psychological processes tapped through the OSS assessment program and, in doing so, make a contribution to modern personnel evaluation and selection discussions in the intelligence and special operations communities.…”

“…This established the connection between clinical psychology, with its focus on developing assessment approaches, and the nascent U.S. intelligence community. There had been no comparable prior instance (prior to World War II) in the fields of clinical psychology, personnel psychology, or clinical psychiatry fields where intensive study of individuals was carried out for the stated purpose of selection for likely suitability as an intelligence officer or special operations personnel (Banks, 2006;Williams, Picano, Roland, & Bartone, 2012; see also Butcher, 2010). In contrast to this situation in the United States, both British and German psychologists and psychiatrists had been active in assisting in the selection of officers for the military during World War I and prior to World War II (Banks, 1995).…”