HUMAN RELIABILITY IMPLICATIONS OF THE U. S. NAVY'S EXPERIENCE IN SCREENING AND SELECTION PROCEDURES
R. L. CHRISTY (MC) USN1, and
J. E. RASMUSSEN CDR. (MSC) USN2
1 Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Navy Department, Washington, D. C.
2 Naval Medical Research Institute, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md.
The Navy's experience over the past 20 years in psychiatric assessment is subjected to a systematic review, and an effort is made to identify variables which are critical to the effectiveness of such programs. While the Navy's experience in assessment generally appears to be more positive than that reported by other branches of the service, upon closer examination the discrepancies are not nearly as pronounced as they appear to be on the surface.
The applications of the Navy's psychiatric assessment experience to the human reliability problem is discussed in terms of: basic Medical Department responsibilities, a rationale for psychiatric assessment in human reliability programs, evaluation of symptomatology, history of past personal effectiveness, the problem of continued surveillance, and military acceptance of psychiatric assessment program.
