Physiological and Psychological Characteristics of Successful Combat Controller Trainees

摘要

The USAF Combat Controller (CCT) training pipeline is extremely arduous and historically has an attrition rate of 70-80%. The primary objective of this study was to identify the physiological, psychological or demographical characteristics associated with successful progression through the CCT pipeline program. Our findings revealed the following mean characteristics of 109 CCTs who completed Phase I of the pipeline and achieved their 3-level rating: 23 years old, 1.8 m tall, 81 kg, 12% body fat, VO2max of 59 ml/kg/min, vertical jump of 62 cm, able to generate 11.4 W/kg peak power and 9.3 W/Kg mean power during Wingate tests, overall mental toughness rating of 8 (out of 10) with high levels of extraversion and conscientiousness and low levels of neuroticism. Football was the most popular competitive sport played in high school, followed by track, wrestling, and baseball. These results may prove useful in refining the selection criteria and in designing training for CCT trainees.