Development and current status of USAF mental health screening

Early detection and appropriate disposition of non-adaptable military recruits has been a concern of the military for many years. In the 1950s and 1960s, various branches of the military conducted large studies searching for accurate, cost-effective ways to predict which recruits could and could not adapt to military training. In the 1970s, research in this area spawned the development of the Air Force Medical Evaluation Test (AFMET), the three-phase mental health screening process used by the Air Force today. This article briefly reviews the development of AFMET, and presents current data supporting its utility and effectiveness.