Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) Navigator Selection System: Initial Model Development.

The LCAC is an amphibious hovercraft that can ride on a cushion of air across land or sea. Its control features are similar to a helicopter and it is designed to transport weapons, cargo, equipment and combat personnel. In the 1980s, the LCAC community was experiencing a high attrition rate, partially due to the absence of any valid selection mechanisms for crewmembers. The Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory NAMRL developed a selection system for the LCAC operators and engineers and the system was transitioned to the Naval Operational Medicine Institute NOMI in 1992. Similar attrition problems were seen in the Navigator community and in FY 94-95 NAMRL was again tasked with developing a selection system. Concurrent validation of the system was done using 58 LCAC navigators. The preliminary predictive model was generated and the cut-off score derived from the sponsors operational manpower needs. To date, 30 candidates have been screened with 25 being recommended for training. Thirteen of these candidates have entered training and completed the lull 22 week syllabus. Five of the thirteen recommended candidates attrited during training, with multi-tasking as the main reason sited. The system is still being evaluated to 1 possibly include more multi-tasking tests, 2 modify the predictive algorithm, andor 3 raise the cut-off score to further reduce the attrition rates.