Enlisted Personnel Individualized Career System (EPICS): Test and Evaluation of First Shipboard and Shore-Based Training Phases

摘要

The purpose of this report was to (1) evaluate the training progress of Enlisted Personnel Individualized Career System (EPICS) personnel (N = 146) who had completed their first shipboard and shore-based training phases. The ship operational schedule, shipboard interruptions during study, and the nonrated status of the EPICS personnel tended to increase shipboard training completion times while encouragement and guidance from senior personnel tended to decrease them. The instructional characteristics of the shipboard modules were rated very highly and administration of the shipboard training was not perceived as time consuming. General aptitude, eligibility for fire control technician (FT) training, and equipment technician training (ETT) preparation were the strongest factors influencing instructional progress of EPICS personnel during ETT, the first shore-based training phase. EPICS FT-eligible personnel progressed faster than their basic electricity and electronics counterparts, while the EPICS FT-ineligible group progressed at a rate representative of their status. Recommendations address methods for improving the shipboard and shore-based administration of EPICS. career development, job design, basic electricity and electronics, apprenticeship program, low aptitude personnel, training implementation, technical skill development, training qualifications, shipboard environment. (Author)