• Army Psychology Service
• Employment
• Roles and Functions
• Specialist Officer Training
• Career Example
• The New Zealand Army
• Conditions of Service
• Person Specification
• Selection Process
• Applications

Background of Psychology in the Army

Applications of psychology to the military environment date back to work done in the area of selection in the 1920s. In the New Zealand Army, the use of psychology can be traced back to the 1940s, when a need was realised for effective personnel selection and advice on training. The application of psychology grew during the following 20 years under the auspices of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and each of the armed forces. In the past decade the role of Army Psychologists has diversified to include providing support to personnel on UN and other peacekeeping operations. This has included the deployment of Psychologists to the Gulf, Bosnia and East Timor for short periods in order to conduct in-theatre debriefs and educational sessions with personnel, just prior to their return to NZ. In 2000, for the first time, the NZ Army deployed a psychologist to work fulltime with the Battalion in East Timor. During this three-year mission, a total of six psychologists deployed to East Timor, for periods of up to six months each. In 2001, a New Zealand Military Psychologists Association was formed as an informal network for past and present Military Psychologists.

The Army Psychology Service

The mission statement of the Army Psychology Service is as follows:

"To provide professional opinion in the field of Organisational and Military Psychology which supports the goals and objectives of effective personnel management and development in the New Zealand Army; complying with the statutory requirements of the Psychologists Act 1981 and the New Zealand Psychological Society Code of Ethics."

All Army Psychologists work under the technical supervision of the Senior Psychologist (Army) and work to the Army Psychology Service mission statement outlined above.

Currently, there are seven full-time Army Psychologist positions:

• Senior Psychologist (Army). Located in HR Executive, Army General Staff, Wellington, the Senior Army Psychologist is responsible for the technical direction of the Army Psychology Service and provision of psychological advice on policy development to the Chief of Army.
• HR Services Psychologist. Located at Trentham Camp, Upper Hutt, this position is also a part of the HR Executive, Army General Staff. This Psychologist is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the Army Psychology Service, for coordination, management and maintenance of Army selection boards and procedures and for providing personnel advice to the HR Executive.
• Psychology Research Officer. Located in Wellington, this is the position into which new Army Psychologists are usually recruited. The position provides research and validation in support of all Army Psychology Service activities. It also provides the opportunity for new Psychologists to learn all of the procedures and practices required to operate as a Field Psychologist in one of the camps based around NZ.
• Field Psychologist Army Training Group (ATG). Located at Waiouru Camp, this Psychologist is responsible for the provision of psychological services and advice to Headquarters ATG and all units in Waiouru, including The Army Depot (TAD) where all new soldiers are trained and Officer Cadet School (OCS).
• Training and Development Psychologist (ATG). Located at Waiouru Camp, this Psychologist is responsible for providing advice, guidance and research in all matters relating to Army Training and Development.
• Field Psychologist Central. Two Psychologists are located at Linton Camp, near Palmerston North. They are responsible for the provision of psychological services and advice to the Central and Northern Army regions (essentially, the North Island, less Waiouru and Wellington).
• Field Psychologist Southern. Located at Burnham Camp, near Christchurch, this Psychologist is responsible for providing psychological services and advice to the Southern Army region (South Island).

There is also a Psychologist position situated at Headquarters Joint Forces NZ, Upper Hutt. This position is open to Psychologists serving in any of the three Services, however it is considered a more senior role, equivalent to the Senior Psychologist roles. This Psychologist is responsible for the co-ordination of psychological support to operational activities, including organising training for personnel about to deploy on peacekeeping missions overseas and the co-ordination of psychological debriefs post-deployment.

Employment as an Army Psychologist

Army Psychologists must be prepared to serve in any of the above locations but also have some say in where they do and don't want to be posted. In general, a posting lasts from one to three years, however this is dependant on organisational needs. The Army promotes locational stability and attempts provide three year postings, however at times they will be shorter (e.g. if a psychologist leaves the Army and that position can't remain vacant until the next posting cycle). Travel between locations to work on activities also occurs on a regular basis and this is especially so early on in your career. This is so you can be exposed to as many different aspects of the job and the organisation as possible. Travel and work opportunities also arise overseas - this could involve attending a conference, deploying on operations to debrief personnel, or conducting officer selection boards. Army Psychologists are also able to attend conferences, training and courses in areas relevant to Army Psychology Service activities. In order to maintain professional networks with psychologists working outside of the NZ Defence Force, all Army Psychologists are members of a professional association such as the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand, or the New Zealand Psychologists Society.

Psychologists in the Army are Commissioned Officers and are expected to take on the responsibilities of this role. They wear a uniform and work closely with other members of the service at all levels. This can involve a variety of non-professional duties, appointments and opportunities that psychologists in other areas would not experience. For example: after hours duties, appointments on various committees, attendance at parades and ceremonial duties. They are also expected to maintain their physical fitness and as such are encouraged to take part in unit or individual physical training (PT) at least three times per week during work hours.

Role And Functions of the Army Psychology Service

Psychologists in the New Zealand Army provide psychological services, advice and research at all levels of the organisation. Most facets of industrial/organisational psychology, in addition to military psychology, are encompassed in the work, and as such the Army Psychology Service offers an unparalleled and unique opportunity for graduates to gain a broad range of experience in a professional and 'user friendly' environment. It also offers the opportunity for varied, challenging and dynamic work in a unique environment. Army psychologists have a relatively autonomous role and also have high levels of responsibility (in terms of making decisions and being asked for input or advice), from an early stage in their career.

The Army Psychologist role has a predominantly Industrial/Organisational and Military psychology focus. Specific activities include:

Support to Operational Activities (includes support to personnel deploying on overseas peacekeeping duties and their families):

• Pre-deployment training briefs.
• Post-deployment debriefs.
• Follow-up debriefs and subsequent referrals.
• In-theatre debriefing (e.g.: debriefing personnel in East Timor prior to their return to NZ).
• On-going support to operational activities, including deploying on operations.
• Advice to command.
• Research in support of these activities.

Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Includes educating personnel in 'high risk' jobs (e.g. fire fighters, medics) about CISM, conducting CIS debriefs and other interventions following a critical incident, on an 'as required' basis, and initiating appropriate follow-up action.

Officer Selection. Includes working on Officer Selection Boards (a four day assessment centre), pre-selection administration, research and development.

Support to Recruiting Activities. Includes training and supervision of Recruiting staff.

Other Personnel Selection. This includes conducting selection assessments for a range of roles within the Army, such as Military Police, Recruiting staff, Ammunition Technicians, Army Adventurous Training Centre Instructors and Services Corrective Establishment staff.

Personnel Research. This is conducted in a range of areas and includes attitude and climate surveys, validation of selection procedures and tests, test norm development, etc.

Performance Related Referrals. Army psychologists are sometimes asked to assess personnel who are not performing well at work or on course.

Training and Instruction. Conducted in a range of areas including team building, performance appraisal, interviewing and counselling, stress and stress management, anger management, dealing with difficult people, group dynamics and assertiveness training etc.

Counselling. This includes self-referrals. However, issues of a clinical nature or which require on-going assistance are referred to civilian clinical psychologists or other appropriate professionals.

Assistance to other countries. For example, conducting Officer Selection Boards in Fiji or Vanuatu.

Specialist Officer Training

Specialist Officers are people with special skills, experience or training that join the Army to perform specific functions but are not in command of troops. Specialist Officers include Psychologists, Doctors, Lawyers, Nurses, Clergy and Teachers. Ultimately however, everyone in the Army might deploy into an operational environment regardless of their role, and therefore everyone must be trained and capable of doing certain things. That is, they must be able to perform basic soldier skills such as living in the field, communicating by radio, or handling weapons for example. That's why in the Army, everyone is a soldier first, irrespective of what their specific role is. Also, in order to effectively operate in an organisation like the Army with it's history and tradition, it is important that people have an understanding of how the organisation functions, how it is structured, and as psychologists selecting people to join the Army as officers, it is very important to have an appreciation of just what officer training is like.
The Specialist Officers Course, currently a 5 week long course run at the Officer Cadet School (OCS) in Waiouru, is designed to provide you with a basic introduction to soldiering as well as an understanding of the organisation. You learn drill, weapon-handling skills, field-craft, military planning and orders, and military writing principles. You are also taught about being an officer in the Army and what that means, what behaviour is expected of you and etiquette when in various regimental and social occasions. In addition, because you live at OCS and are exposed to the Army training environment, you get to see and experience first hand what the training, Army culture and environmental demands are really like. This insight becomes invaluable when you are assessing officer candidates on an Officer Selection Board and are trying to determine how realistic their motivation is or whether they will cope with the demands of officer training for example.

Career Example: Psychologist X

X graduated from University in 1995, and was selected to attend an Officer Selection Board (OSB) in October 1995. X was commissioned as a Lieutenant and was posted to Linton Camp near Palmerston North as Field Psychologist (Fd Psych) Central. This appointment involved responsibility for all psychology services in the lower half of the North Island, including personnel selection, specific training tasks, short in-house research tasks, and providing support, through pre-deployment training and post-deployment debriefing, to personnel who deployed on peacekeeping missions and their families. During this time, X also completed two Army courses: a Specialist Officer Course to aid assimilation into the organisation, and a Junior Staff Officers Course relating to personnel administration, law, and accounting. X also completed the requirements for registration as a Psychologist under the Psychologists Act 1981.

In July 1998, X was posted to Burnham Camp near Christchurch as Fd Psych Southern, becoming responsible for psych services in the South Island. Amongst the normal tasks mentioned above, X was also responsible for providing psychological advice to the Limited Services Volunteer Company, Youth Life Skills programme, the Services Corrective Establishment and the Army Adventurous Training Centre. Personnel selection was also a major activity in this appointment. X was promoted to Captain in Nov 98. During this appointment X also travelled to Fiji to assist with Officer Selection.

In Dec 00, X was posted to Trentham as the Land Command Psychologist. As well as coordinating psychological support to personnel who deployed on peacekeeping missions (now done by the Joint Forces Psych), X was responsible for the co-ordination of Officer Selection Boards (assessment centres), held in Trentham Camp three times each year (now done by the HR Services Psych).

In May 2000 X deployed as part of a Force Extraction Team (FET) to conduct in-theatre debriefing of personnel serving in East Timor, prior to their return to NZ. X also travelled overseas in 1999 to represent the New Zealand Defence Force on an international panel, on the Management of Stress in Deployed Operations.

The New Zealand Army

The New Zealand Army has an average strength of approximately 4500 Regular Force (full-time) personnel and approximately 2900 Territorial Force (part-time) personnel, employed in a wide range of occupations, both trade and professional. The New Zealand Army is a complex, highly professional organisation. The organisational culture of the New Zealand Army places a high value on people. Capital equipment, the movement of finance and management of other material resources are important, however the Army is perhaps distinctive in its concern for human resources above others. Leadership, communication skills and effective personnel management are highly valued.

Conditions of Service

Salary will be dependent on qualifications and experience. Successful applicants will be entitled to 16 working days annual leave (21days annual leave after five years service), plus all statutory days. Other conditions of service include but are not limited to:

• Use of camp facilities such as gyms and pools (camp facilities are also available to partners and children of service personnel)
• Medical and dental care provided
• Subsidised rent for Service housing (available in all camps) or if single, reasonably priced service accommodation (private room with shared ablutions)
• Transfer Subsidy Loan (DTLS); a percentage of your mortgage is funded by the Army to encourage personnel to purchase their own homes
• A superannuation scheme Family Friendly and Flexible Working Hours Policy
• Personnel posted to Waiouru are entitled to one administration day per month to travel to Palmerston North or Taupo for example do things like banking, buying groceries, etc due to the isolated location of the camp
• Access to the Officers Mess (partners and children of officers are also welcome) in which to socialise, dine and attend functions
• The opportunity for adventure training (rock-climbing, kayaking, mountaineering courses, etc) and membership of Army sports teams (netball, hockey, rugby, rugby league, golf, basketball, etc).

Person Specification

The successful applicant will have:

• Either registration as a psychologist or eligibility for registration as a psychologist with the NZ Psychology Board, i.e. have a minimum of an MA or MSc in Psychology with at least one Industrial / Organisational / Occupational postgraduate level paper (or if your qualifications are from an overseas university, you must provide evidence of your eligibility from the NZ Psychology Board with your application). This is essential for registration and therefore employment as a psychologist in the NZ Army. If you are not already registered, the NZDF is a recognised agency for the supervision and registering of psychologists.
• Proven academic capability in psychology at a post-graduate level, with research, organisational, assessment and counselling papers being desirable.
• A self-motivated approach to progress.
• An adaptability to varied work environments and travel.
• Integrity and honesty.
• A realistic, 'applied' approach to tasks.
• An ability to relate across a broad spectrum of culture, gender, age, attitude and education.
• Good research skills.
• The ability to meet a required fitness level.
• Computer literacy, including familiarity with Statistical Analysis software.
• Excellent communication skills.
• An ability to work as part of a small team.
• A willingness to work outside of usual work hours, including weekends.
• The ability to work away from home at times and to deploy overseas.
• Demonstrated officer qualities required to successfully complete an Officer Selection Board.

Selection Process

Applications will be short-listed and those people who successfully complete this stage of the selection process will undertake a pre-selection process that will include interviews with the local psychologist and recruiting officer, as well as some assessment questionnaires.

Applicants who successfully complete the pre-selection process will be invited to attend a four-day Officer Selection Board (OSB), an 'assessment centre', at Trentham Camp, Upper Hutt. The purpose of the OSB is to assess your leadership ability and potential along with your suitability to become a Commissioned Officer in the NZ Army. (You are not being assessed on your professional specialist skills during the OSB.)

Your Recruiting Officer will keep you informed throughout the selection process and, if you are selected to attend the OSB, they will provide you with all of the relevant information and organise your travel to and from Trentham.

Applications

Applicants wishing to apply for a Field Psychologist position, are to Apply Online. Your application will need to be supported by a current curriculum vitae and should be forwarded to your local Recruiting Office when requested.

All applications will be treated in strict confidence and place the applicant under no obligation.