Assessment of Stress Inoculation Training at the US Navy Surface Warfare Officer School

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimitedNaval Officers face dynamic and challenging situations as part of their daily operations. These warfighters must be able to perform complex tasks and make critical decisions under high stress conditions. Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) utilizes controlled stress exposure during training to enhance expertise, adaptability, confidence, resilience, and performance under high stress conditions. In 2019, the Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) expanded their Surface Commanders Course (SCC) from the previous standard 9-week training program to an enhanced 10-week training program that implemented a SIT component (a briefing on stress and a week of exercises designed specifically to induce stress in the students). This study assessed and compared stress levels between the standard and the enhanced training program. SWOS students (N=40) participated in the study, 21 in the standard program (the “Control” group) and 19 students in the enhanced program (the “SIT” group). Measurements included assessments of life stress (Cohen Perceived Stress Scale, PSS), mood (Profile of Mood States, POMS), physical exertion (Modified Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion, RPE), cognitive workload (Bedford Workload Scale, BWS), salivary biomarkers for stress (α-amylase, cortisol, C-reactive protein), and heart rate (HR). Our results showed that stress levels during the classroom period were in general low. In terms of the Fire Trainer evolution, the training was stressful, both in terms of the subjective assessments of stress and in terms of the psychophysiological metrics we collected. There were no differences in stress metrics between groups during the Fire Trainer. During week 10, students experienced an incremental pattern of pre-evolution α-amylase activity. This pattern suggests an accumulative effect of the training activities, and indicates that the autonomic nervous system was remaining activated. C-reactive protein did not accumulate during week 10, and the levels of the protein did not show any notable spikes that would point to an inflammatory response associated with injury or overload. Also, the Battle Stations event with three consecutive evolutions in the same day was stressful as evidenced by the peak heart rate metrics. Overall, our results suggest that the inclusion of week 10 in the training regime can be considered successful from a stress perspective. The addition of week 10 with high intensity training evolutions did succeed in evoking moderate levels of stress in the SWOS students but was able to do so without causing overload or injury.Surface Warfare Officer School Command; Naval Station Newport; 446 Cushing Road, Newport, RI 02841Naval Advanced Medical Development Program; Naval Medical Research Center; 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910Naval Advanced Medical Development Progra