AASP Newsletter - October 2016

Susannah Knust, PhD, CMPC, Clinical Research Management

AAR, TDY, MOS, APFT, BRM, and DONSA were a few of the acronyms I learned early in my time working with Soldiers at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in 2013. (See definitions of acronyms below.) I started recording these and other acronyms in a notebook* just like I had written Spanish words and translations while studying in Costa Rica as an undergraduate. As a Spanish teacher for 7 years, I knew that a student learning another language typically learns the language in a specific order. That order is to read, write, listen, and speak. Reading and writing give a person more time to process while listening and speaking do not.

Sport has a language and culture of its own, and sport psychology on athletic fields and courts made sense to me. I could speak the language of Ks (strikeouts), TDs (touch downs), PRs (personal records), and FTs (free throws). I had coached high school and college softball and have recently served as a graduate assistant in the Mental Training Center in the University of Tennessee Athletic Department, working with coaches and athletes participating in a variety of sports. Through my education and coaching, I grasped the dialect of sport psychology and the athletic culture. However, when accepting the job as an MRT-PE, I did not realize that I would be learning yet another new language and culture -"Army". The Army has placed a priority on translating positive and performance psychology languages for Soldiers to understand and operationalize.

The similarities between learning Spanish and learning "Army" were fascinating. The acronym journal took the place of my Spanish-English translation journal. Instead of reading books in Spanish, I read On Killing by LTC (R) Dave Grossman (1996). Similar to when I was studying abroad, I was exhausted after each day trying to learn the language and assimilate into the culture. I was in full receiving mode. It took me six months of observing at ranges and shoot houses, reading books, and talking with Soldiers about CQB and sniping before I started to adequately incorporate the language of sport psychology into the culture. Around that same time, I had an opportunity to work with an Infantry company at their STX lanes and LFX. I still did not have all the right words, but I was starting to translate my sport psychology knowledge into battlefield language. I was able to more effectively communicate about attention control, energy management, and imagery; however, I still had moments when I felt frustrated because I was not fully fluent in "Army." It was not until the year marker when things “clicked” for me and I felt comfortable in the setting. Once I was relatively proficient with the Army language and better understood the nuances of the culture, I was more deliberate with units. With the goal of being able to help Soldiers and their Families translate the language of performance and positive psychological concepts and skills more effectively, I became increasingly intentional in my interactions with leaders and Soldiers. It was my turn to be a language teacher again, but I had to use different strategies than when I was a Spanish teacher. Below I share some stories that demonstrate broader strategies: solving real-world problems, collaborating with leaders, having fun, growing from feedback, and talking last in AARs.

Solving Real-World Problems
The OIC of an S2 shop (Intel) asked me to develop training modules because her unit lacked cohesion. She had been reading Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems (Hackman, 2011), and highly recommended I read the book to learn about the demands her unit faced. As I read the first several chapters, I made notes about the connections between the CSF2 training and the Intel world. Mitch Weaver, an MRT-PE, and I developed training activities for the unit based on the OIC’s needs assessment and the book. The IOC was thrilled with the outcome of the trainings because her Soldiers were actively engaged in the physical and mental tasks, but more importantly, in the discussions about how people's thoughts influenced them individually and the Intel team as a whole. She saw progress with communication and cohesion within her unit, particularly with some Soldiers who struggled with the transition to her leadership.

Collaborating with Leaders
I was working with a BN’s PL academy and the BN CDR did not want his PLs to have a week of "death by PowerPoint." He wanted engagement, and he asked me to be as involved as I could in the week's training. Mitch Weaver and I ended up working with three of the BN's CO CDRs to incorporate our concepts and skills into their training. These collaborative trainings included leadership, PT, and tactical training. The BN CDR, CO CDRs, and PLs appreciated the different points of view that we brought to help them become better leaders because it was related to what mattered to them. Our interaction sparked several discussions with them throughout the week and after.

Having Fun
Part of my teaching philosophy includes the phrase "if I am enjoying my class, my students are much more likely to enjoy it, too." Bringing the best of me includes using creativity to design engaging classes. I developed FIRE (Fun in Resilience and Exercise) in Action with a Spouse who was in one of my 2-week MRT classes. She suggested that we develop a resilience class for adolescents and parents. Rather than teaching resilience with a PowerPoint, my goal was to prepare MRTs to teach skills to small groups of teenagers or parents with minimal materials in an informal setting (i.e., outside). The participants then practiced the mental skill while completing a challenging physical obstacle, and I intentionally tied skills to specific tasks. The beauty of this approach was that it helped the MRTs understand the skills better, too.

Growing from Feedback
Another aspect of my learning curve was receiving feedback from co-workers who were SMEs on the same material and Army leaders who had a wealth of experience. My co-workers and I regularly participated in a quality assurance/quality enhancement process for each other as we taught. This feedback, while humbling, was invaluable for my growth as a practitioner. Feedback from leaders has also been valuable. They wanted to ensure we were communicating effectively with their Soldiers to ensure the time they invested with us was worthwhile. One instance when I reworked how I approached a task was during a multi-hour SAW Blitz that combined mental and physical challenges. In order to ensure that all the moving pieces would work for the competition among BNs, the BDE CDR and other HQ staff completed a run through the week prior. The BDE CDR and CSM both gave feedback as to how to adjust the mental and physical tasks in order to best target specific Soldier tasks.

Talking Last in AARs
Dr. Brian Hite, an MRT-PE, shared with me the importance of talking last in the AAR. After a drill or exercise, making sure the leaders gave feedback first, allowing me the opportunity to expand on how psychology impacts performance and reinforcing leaders’ feedback. This gave more credibility to the leaders and helped steer our points and build trust with leadership. From a learning standpoint, Soldiers were better able to apply the psychological concepts and skills to their techniques and tactics because my comments tied in well with their leaders' feedback. In addition, oftentimes, the leader would reinforce what I said before the next iteration.

I have experienced my share of frustrations and challenges learning the language and culture of the Army. However, the time I invested has been worthwhile because I have been able to better translate sport psychology into Soldiers’ and their Families’ worlds. Through those efforts, I have been able to see and hear how this training has changed performances, leadership strategies, relationships, and lives. Because of my experience at Fort Campbell, I was able to transition to a Behavioral Scientist position at the Research Transition Office at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. I am now developing and evaluating resilience and performance psychology curriculum for Soldiers and their Families. RTO's goal, in collaboration with ARD, is to translate psychological skills research and concepts about Soldiers and their Families into applicable knowledge for their personal and professional lives, better preparing them for the challenges they face as part of the Army Family.

Army Acronyms

References

Grossman, D. (2009). On killing: The psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society. New York, NY: Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company.

Hackman, J. (2011). Collaborative intelligence: Using teams to solve hard problems. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.