Research on Human Factors: German Soldiers and Functional Age Limits

Abstract

The main responsibility of the Psychological Service of the German Federal Armed Forces is the development, application, and use in instruction of scientifically proven psychological knowledge, with special emphasis on the individual soldier’s needs. One of the general research topics at present, not peculiar to the German Forces, is the enhancement of the quantity and quality of military personnel. Manpower planners of the Western nations have to face a more or less dramatic decrease in numbers of recruitable personnel in young age groups. This situation compels every official in charge of research coordination and/or personnel management to exploit every possibility of personnel acquisition, and to make optimum use of the personnel being acquired.