The operational forces military context is generally acknowledged as one of the most stressful contexts as it is demanding of members on a physical, psychological, social level with organisational, intra- and inter-personal demands of an extreme nature (Gruber et al., 2009; Skomorovsky & Stevens, 2013). The South African Operational Forces – as a unit of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) – functions similarly to other such units internationally (Bartone et al., 2008; Gruber et al., 2009; Svendsen, 2014). Despite many referring to their military careers as a vocation or a calling, the military as employer - no different from other organisations in this regard – need to continuously try to optimally balance unique requirements and available resources by recruiting, selecting and training individuals that are a good match for the organizational requirements.
Reference:
Van Heerden, A. and De Beer, M. 2017. Important characteristics of operational force members. The 59th International Military Testing Association Conference (IMTA), 9-13 October 2017, Bern, Switzerland
Van Heerden, A., & De Beer, M. (2017). Important characteristics of operational force members. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/9706
Van Heerden, Adelai, and Morris De Beer. "Important characteristics of operational force members." (2017): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/9706
Van Heerden A, De Beer M, Important characteristics of operational force members; 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/9706 .