Relationship of Anthropometric Measures on Female Trainees' and Active Duty Soldiers' Performance of Common Soldiering Tasks

Abstract

Introduction: This study compared the relationship between height (HT), body mass (BM), and body mass index (BMI) of female trainees and active duty female soldiers and their performance on simulated common soldiering tasks (CSTs) with high physical demands.

Methods: Female trainees (n = 133) and soldiers (n = 229) completed the following CSTs: sandbag carry, move under fire, casualty drag, casualty evacuation, and road march. Quartiles were created among HT, BM, and BMI by which task performance was compared using ANOVAs with Tukey post hoc comparisons.

Results: For both trainees and soldiers, HT, BM, and BMI were positively associated with improved road march, casualty drag, casualty evacuation, and sandbag carry performance. On the move under fire task, only soldier HT was positively associated with improved performance.

Conclusion: Female trainees and soldiers who are taller and heavier with a higher BMI may demonstrate better performance on CSTs required of all soldiers. In addition to task-specific training, performance of CSTs may be enhanced in tasks requiring strength and power by recruiting and retaining taller and heavier females with a higher BMIs. Allowances should be considered for soldiers and trainees who can successfully perform soldiering tasks with high physical demands despite less desirable anthropometric measurements.