The Role of Deployments in Competency Development

In fall 2001, the RAND Corporation conducted a survey of officers and enlisted personnel who had recently returned from a deployment to Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB) or Eskan Village in Saudi Arabia. This documented briefing reports the results of that effort, using survey data to consider the utility of a PSAB/Eskan deployment as a setting for broadening the skills and developing the competencies of Air Force staff. This briefing also addresses the larger issue of whether the learning that occurs during deployments merits tracking. The authors surveyed officers and enlisted personnel in the continental United States who had returned from a PSAB/Eskan deployment within the preceding 12 months. Respondents selected all the settings, including PSAB/Eskan, in which they learned a specific competency or skill. They then indicated the single “best” learning environment for that skill or competency. For the majority of the competencies and skills included in the survey, PSAB/Eskan deployment was frequently identified as a learning environment and in many cases the “best” learning environment.