2014 US RAND RR750 Enhancing performance under stress - stress innocuation training in battlefield airmen
Special Operations Center for Enhanced Performance SOCEP, a center of experts in performance enhancement and sports psychology, was funded in October 2010 to support the training of Special Forces. In general, the goal of the center is to identify the biggest challenges to performance and enhance performance in those areas through training and practice in simulated conditions. Although the curriculum was created by the Army Center for Enhanced Performance at West Point, the stressors integrated into practice sessions are designed using feedback from Special Forces operators who have recently been downrange. The specific curriculum and length of training depend on an individual’s military occupational specialty. In general, the curriculum emphasizes five primary skills to enhance mental strength (1) building confidence, (2) goal-setting, (3) attention control, (4) energy management, and (5) integrating imagery. In many ways, these core skills are analogous to those used by the Navy to train BUDS candidates and operators (see Table 3.2). A full description of the Army’s definitions of these skills is provided in a Memorandum for Record (Department of the Army, 2011).
26 Enhancing Performance Under Stress Stress Inoculation Training for Battlefield Airmen Table 3.2
