In reviewing the Army Continuing Education System in 1979, the Assistant Secretary of the Army found a basic skills program based on traditional academic level goals was inadequate to meet the Army's requirement to provide functional, job-related basic skill education. Combining the shrinking manpower pool and projected basic skill deficiencies of the future soldiers with the increased complexity and sophistication of the equipment systems of the future, there is a substantial discrepancy between the required capabilities of the operators and maintainers of equipment systems and the capabilities of entering soldiers. Consequently, the Army has elected to invest approximately 37 million dollars over a four-year period into a substantial research effort which will deal with the identification and curriculum development of basic skills instructional materials, English-as-a-Second Language Program, life coping skill curricula materials, and learning strategies curriculum. This multi-faceted approach is an attempt to remediate a variety of basic skills deficiencies which are prevalent in the soldiers entering the Army at this time. The results of this effort will substantially affect the readiness of the Army and basic skill programs in public education in America in the period three to five years from now. (Author/RL)