Impact of Adopting Physical Fitness Standards on Army Personnel Assignment: A Preliminary Study.

摘要

This report presents a preliminary evaluation of the impact which would result from the Army's adoption physical demand standards for all enlisted Military Occupational Specialties (MOS). These standards were developed by the Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (ARIEM) at the request of the Surgeon General. While the aim of these standards is laudable--to improve the combat readiness of the Army by ensuring all soldiers are physically able to accomplish their job-FORSCOM recognized that there might be undesirable side effects of adopting the system. Through III Corps, it requested ARI to evaluate the impact of the standards. The primary emphasis of that evaluation was on the possible effects implementation would have on the number of soldiers available for MOS which also require high aptitude. This was done by determining how many soldiers are in MOS having both high physical demands and high aptitude requirements. Predictions were made about expected personnel shortfall based on previous research on the physical abilities of comparable populations. Ways to reduce the impact of the AIREM physical demands selection procedure were considered and the benefits of these examined. (Author)