How to Become a Military Psychologist

Source: U.S. Army photo by Michelle Eberhart (public domain)

I am often asked by undergraduates or others interested in becoming a military psychologist how to go about pursuing this goal. It turns out that the answer is not straightforward. There are few, if any, graduate programs that offer degree programs explicitly in military psychology. Moreover, there are as many types of military psychologists are there are subfields of the general discipline and profession of psychology. Thus, a military psychologist may be a clinical or counseling psychologist, a neuropsychologist, an experimental psychologist, human factors engineer, or any one of the myriad specializations that make up psychology as a whole. What defines a military psychologist, then, is not their specialization, but rather a common focus on applying their psychological expertise within a military context and to military populations.

Thus, it is no wonder that prospective military psychologists often seek advice on how to achieve their goals. The purpose of this post is to offer some basic tips for what it means to be a military psychologist and strategies for obtaining the academic and professional credentials needed to call oneself a military psychologist.

The first advice I offer to these queries is to follow your passion within psychology. Identify and seek admission to graduate programs that best match your interests. When comparing graduate programs, peruse the faculty biography pages to see which faculty, if any, engage in military-relevant research, application, or practice. If your top university choice does not have any such faculty, consider another program that does have faculty with such interests. In most cases, finding a good match between your interests and those of a future doctoral dissertation mentor is more important than the general reputation of the university. You cannot judge a book from its cover, nor can you always judge the quality of your own unique graduate education and training by the mere reputation of the university as a whole. This is an important step, and you should invest time and effort in identifying a list of potential graduate programs that will allow you to grow and flourish as a psychologist who specializes in military matters.

Once you begin your graduate studies, the next step is to collaborate closely with your advisor to tailor coursework, practica, and research projects to fit your specific goals and ambitions. Perhaps your advisor has a contract from the Department of Defense to study decision-making in leaders of small military units. A clinical or counseling psychology graduate student may find opportunities to hone their clinical skills by collaborating with an advisor with access to military-relevant populations, including combat veterans. In choosing an internship, look for those expressly aligned with military or veterans’ organizations. Your objective should be to become the best clinical/experimental/industrial (etc.) psychologist you can be, while also embracing every opportunity to gain experience in your craft within a military-relevant context.

It is also fair to point out that obtaining quality graduate education and training, even if it is not expressly within a military context, provides knowledge and skills that will easily transfer to military settings. After all, understanding and treating depression in soldiers is not fundamentally different than doing so with clients from the general population. Knowing your craft is what really matters. With time and experience, you can learn to contextualize your clinical or research skills within a military setting even if you did not have much opportunity to do so in graduate school.

OK, now you have your degree. Where do you look for work? First, decide whether you want to join a branch of the military, or to pursue military psychology as a civilian. All branches of the U.S. military hire psychologists to serve as officers. For example, I joined the Air Force, was commissioned through Officer Training School, then enjoyed assignments as a research psychologist at Brooks Air Force Base followed by teaching psychology at the Air Force Academy. The military services regularly recruit clinical and counseling psychologists to serve in their medical corps, and other types of psychologists to work in laboratories and other settings. Military service can be simultaneously demanding and immensely rewarding. The pay and benefits are excellent. Before signing up to wear the uniform, however, I strongly advise you to talk to active-duty military psychologists and others knowledgeable about military service to assess if the military lifestyle and responsibilities are congruent with your temperament, goals, and personal and social needs. To learn about serving as an active-duty psychologist/officer, try networking with currently serving officers and/or closely study each branch’s (e.g., Navy) websites for information on eligibility and availability of positions.

There are many opportunities to work as a civilian psychologist employed by the military. After my six years as uniformed Air Force military psychologist, I worked as a Department of Army research psychologist at Fort Benning, Georgia and, for the past 23 years, have been employed by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as a civilian professor. The military hires psychologists of all specialties ranging from clinical to human factors engineering. These civilian positions pay well, have good benefits, and can provide immense satisfaction for the right person in the right job. You can search for available jobs by searching the United States Federal jobs website. Enter key words such as “psychologist,” “clinical psychologist,” or “research psychologist.” Check frequently because jobs appear throughout the year and are often not listed for extended periods on website. This site posts all government job opportunities including those from the Veterans Administration, a large employer of military psychologists.

Besides serving as a military officer or in a federal civilian job, there are a plethora of businesses involved in defense research and development. These range from huge corporations to small, highly specialized companies. Like the federal government, these organizations employ psychologists of all types. For job openings, check the websites of larger companies and look for ads that smaller companies may post on social media or in professional publications relevant to their specialty.

The last and perhaps most important advice I offer to prospective military psychologists is to join the Society of Military Psychology, Division 19 of the American Psychological Association. Division 19 has a large and active student membership that provides extensive networking opportunities. And each year at the annual APA convention, Division 19 sponsors many symposia, paper, and poster sessions. By reviewing the program, you can see the breadth and depth of military psychology, see who is engaged in this work, and what their university or work organization affiliation is. This can provide an abundance of information on where to pursue graduate study and employment afterwards.

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The scope and diversity of military psychology provides fertile ground for a long, rewarding, and meaningful career in psychology. Whether your passion is to render therapy to those in need, to conduct important and cutting-edge research, or to teach psychology at the college level, military psychology provides many opportunities for personal and professional growth and for a long and rewarding career. Do not hesitate to reach out to me if I can offer more detailed suggestions.

Note: The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.