Evaluating the U.S. Military's Progress Toward an Integrated Primary Prevention Workforce

Service members can harm others through sexual assault, harassment (e.g., sexual harassment, bullying, hazing, reprisal, retaliation), domestic abuse, child abuse and neglect, and intimate partner abuse and can harm themselves through attempting or dying by suicide. This range of harmful behaviors can affect service members' overall physical and mental health and be detrimental to force readiness. A robust prevention system is needed to address these harms. A dedicated, qualified, and competent prevention workforce across strategic, operational, and tactical levels is one of the cornerstones of a robust prevention system. In response to a recommendation from the Independent Review Committee on Sexual Assault in the Military, the U.S. Department of Defense is hiring roughly 2,000 Integrated Primary Prevention (IPP) personnel — individuals with particular knowledge and skills in the conduct of prevention activities. These individuals' sole function will be to conduct data-informed activities to prevent various harmful behaviors experienced by service members.

In this report, the authors describe the methods for evaluating progress toward fully implementing an IPP workforce. Once this five-year evaluation is completed, the findings will document how much progress has been made toward full implementation, including an understanding of the structure and functioning of the prevention infrastructure and prevention teams, leader support of IPP, and the quality and comprehensiveness of prevention plans. These findings will be useful for professionals responsible for addressing a variety of harmful behaviors (e.g., sexual assault, suicide) and for commanders and other senior-level military leaders and policymakers interested in improving the quality of efforts to prevent harmful behavior in the military.