Measuring lethality: operationalizing service member preparedness for combat using a novel measure of perceived lethality

Abstract

Enhancing lethality across the Armed Forces increases the capability of service members to quickly understand and react to emerging combat situations, thereby increasing efficiency, precision, survivability, and mission success. While US Army doctrine defines lethality as the “capability or capacity to destroy,” a specific and measurable definition of lethality is noticeably absent from military scientific literature. Furthermore, there appears to be conceptual overlap between definitions of readiness and lethality used in formal and informal settings. The present study used best practices in measure development to create an instrument to assess perceived lethality and then evaluate the utility of this measure across two samples of active-duty military personnel. After measure refinement, results indicated acceptable model fit. Construct validity was also established examining correlations with other variables of interest. The resulting 18-item measure of soldier self-perceived lethality can serve not only as an evaluative metric for unit performance but also as a target for intervention, and as a culturally relevant self-report tool to validate psychological interventions and objective performance optimization efforts in the military.