REFLECTIONS FROM A DEPLOYMENT TO AFGHANISTAN: THE RELEVANCE OF I-O IN A WAR ZONE By: Douglas R. Lindsay, Lt. Col.,PhD Presented by: Matt Brown

Working for the Military  Promotion and compensation are dependent upon a combination of education and application.  In order to obtain senior ranks, one must have earned a master’s degree.  The heart of the military personnel system is the concept of mobility.  Every two or four years one will move to a different location and/or position.  Lt. Col. Lindsay was given two-weeks notice that he would be deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months.

Taking Advantage of Deployment “Opportunity”  Lt. Col. Lindsay decided to expand his applied knowledge and also provide some experience and context that would help him as an instructor.  Specifically, how does the military go about such a monumental undertaking of deploying and redeploying tens of thousands of military personnel in support of the war?  I-O topics covered in this endeavor included: training, selection, performance, leadership, compensation, assessment, motivation, and satisfaction.

Preparing for Deployment  Preparing his family was a significant effort.  Thought back to the topic of work-family conflict and gained a new appreciation for this concept.  Coupled with the emotions of deploying, the notion of going into a combat zone created a significant amount of stress and anxiety.  Military attempts to alleviate some of the stress by compensating the individual in the form of benefits and specials pays.  Needed to attend training to sharpen skills before deploying.

What Motivates Service Members?  Service members who have year-long deployments or have been deployed multiple times.  How do they manage such a balance?  What is motivating them?  Is it internal or external? Why do some choose this lifestyle but others don’t?  What is their compensation?  How do they cope with being in such an environment?  Both positively and negatively.  Observed many examples organizational citizenship behaviors and few counterproductive work behaviors. Personnel got the job done while working 15+ hours a day, 7 days a week.

Working for NATO  Worked with all branches of U.S. military branches in addition to other individuals from over 40 different countries.  Different countries are responsible for different functions.  Different leadership styles presented themselves from each culture.  Biggest challenge was how to assess, measure, and sustain performance with the constant influx and outflow of personnel.

Advantages of Experiences for I-O Psychologists  Can help us bridge the science-practice gap.  By being able to operate on both sides of the divide, will gain a better appreciation for the challenges that each side has in trying to read the other side.  Gives us a greater base of experiences from which to draw.  Allows one to view work as more sophisticated and informed.  Opens up new avenues of research to those in the I-O career.  Helps give us more credibility with those that we work with or those that we serve.  Using deployment experience to teach students.