NATO Survey of Mental Health Training in Army Recruits

To-date, there has been no international review of mental health resilience training during Basic
Training nor an assessment of what service members perceive as useful from their perspective. In response to this
knowledge gap, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Human Factors & Medicine Research & Technology
Task Group “Mental Health Training” initiated a survey and interview with seven to twenty recruits from nine nations to
inform the development of such training (N = 121). All nations provided data from soldiers joining the military as
volunteers, whereas two nations also provided data from conscripts. Results from the volunteer data showed relatively
consistent ranking in terms of perceived demands, coping strategies, and preferences for resilience skill training across
the nations. Analysis of data from conscripts identified a select number of differences compared to volunteers. Subjects
also provided examples of coping with stress during Basic Training that can be used in future training; themes are
presented here. Results are designed to show the kinds of demands facing new recruits and coping methods used to
overcome these demands to develop relevant resilience training for NATO nations.