Background. Russian military psychology is actively analyzing the achievements gained over the years of its reform and with great interest turns to the military psychological experience of foreign armies. Acquaintance with this experience allows Russian military psychology to assess its place in the world military psychological science, to assess the dynamics and fidelity of the general direction of development. In this regard, it is quite interesting to get acquainted with the state, capabilities, and the most important guidelines for the development of the Chinese military psychology. 

Objective. The objective of this paper is to get acquainted with the invaluable experience of trial and error, ups and downs, stagnation and real breakthroughs, which can be learnt through getting acquainted with the history and modern functioning of the psychological structures of the Chinese army. 

Design. The paper considers the centuries-old history and a modern condition of military psychology in China. The methodological foundations of the Chinese military psychology are proved to be the philosophical ideas of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Theoretical sources Chinese military psychology is rooted in the writings of the great thinkers and generals of ancient China – Sun Tzu, Wu Tzu, Zhuge Liang. The two most vigorously developing areas of military psychology: the psychological selection of military personnel, theory and practice of psychological warfare. The historical analysis of traditions and technologies development for the period of four thousand years is given. The development of psychological selection in the army of China was affected by cooperation with the American psychologists during the Second World War. The overall state and program approach to perfect the system of selecting military men using the psychology methods is underlined. Historical development tendencies and the Chinese paradigm of the theory and practice of psychological war are analyzed. Psychological war is considered as a component of an information psychological antagonism, along with legal and media-wars. Such types of psychological war as operation-coercion, operation-deceit, operation-dissociation, operation-defense are identified. Methods of psychological war are highlighted. The general review of other trends of military psychological research is given: studying combat influence on soldier mental condition, stress resistance, post combat frustration and posttraumatic growth; collaborating on methods of psychological training and psychological resilience in military men; studying psychological aspects of «man-technics» system, etc. 

Results. To conclude, the Chinese military psychology is becoming an essential creative force in the PLA’s combat preparedness system and its experience is worthy of careful and in-depth study.

The paper analyses the condition and the basic directions of military psychologists in the American armed forces. It gives an account of specific features, problems, basic fields of activity, general structure of military psychologists’ vocational training. Issues of military psychological community functioning as component of the American psychological association are discussed.

The paper shows that the direction and content of the military psychologists is determined by the peculiarities of the domestic and foreign policy of the American leadership, problems solved by the US armed forces at a particular stage of its historical development, the specific features of the psychological problems that are observes in the Army, the Air Force and the Navy at the today level of the psychological science and practice. The main problems that are the targets of the military psychologists (post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, drug addiction, war crimes, and relations in military units) are revealed.

The subject field of the American military psychology, and its main objectives are analyzed. The consistency in determining the main points of the practical application of military psychology is given special attention to.

The main areas of activity of military psychologists are analyzed. The specific tasks solved by military psychologists of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marine Corps are shown. The direction and methods of clinical psychologists, experts in information operations support of military troops, psychologists in teaching (psychological training of troops) and educational areas are shown. Staff positions and organisations where psychologists works in the interests of the military administration are reviewed. The paper provides an overview of the measures taken by the military leadership of the United States that claim to improve the system of psychological work in the armed forces at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries. The main structure of professional training for the psychologists who are working on solving defense problems are analyzed. A comparative analysis of remuneration system for military psychologists is given.

The issues of military-psychological community functioning as an integral part of the American Psychological Association are discussed. A review of periodicals, literature and events held by the section of military psychology of American Psychological Association ( APA) are provided.