Physical tests based on combat tasks: a systematic review

Botta, WC; Santos, JMMP; Borin, JP

doi:10.1590/s1980-657420220012622

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Motriz: Revista de Educação Física

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Mini-Review/Systematic Review • Motriz: rev. educ. fis. 28 • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-657420220012622 copy

Physical tests based on combat tasks: a systematic review

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Aim:

Military personnel needs to develop and maintain the ability to perform specific mechanical actions, under the risk of not fulfilling their assignments and failing in their missions. Considering the importance of being able to evaluate whether the military is ready for their jobs, studies have been conducted to establish assessments based on the requirements of the tasks performed in combat, referred to as Combat Tasks (CTs), giving rise to Simulated Tasks (STs). This study aimed to understand how physical STs have been used among military personnel worldwide.

Methods:

A systematic review was conducted to identify literature published between 2001 and 2021 that investigated STs. The search criteria for articles (keywords, inclusion, and exclusion) were applied to five databases - PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science - and the PRISMA recommendations were followed.

Results:

The searches resulted in 2630 documents, in addition to two studies that came from other sources. After the removal of duplicates, 1216 studies were screened by title and abstract, resulting in 71 documents, which were read in full. In the end, 17 studies were selected for the qualitative analysis.

Conclusion:

From the data obtained, the results highlighted that six countries with well-structured Armed Forces have been investing in research to develop physical assessments based on CTs, showing a paradigm break regarding conventional physical tests, which ultimately prove to be adequate to measure general fitness levels and issues related to health, but are not sufficient to ensure readiness for the performance of specific military activities.

Keywords
military healthy; military personnel; physical functional performance; readiness

Authors	Objectives	Simulated Tasks	Combat Tasks	Main findings
Bilzon et al. (2001)77. Bilzon JLJ, Scarpello EG, Smith CV, Ravenhill NA, Rayson MP. Characterization of the metabolic demands of simulated shipboard Royal Navy fire-fighting tasks. Ergonomics. 2001;44(8):766-80. doi doi...	To quantify the metabolic demand of shipboard fire extinguishing procedures among the U.K. Royal Navy	Boundary cooling; drum carry; extinguisher carry; hose run; ladder climb	Perform shipboard firefighting duties	The metabolic demands of the 5 Simulated Tasks developed were determined, and the “drum carry” was the most demanding one
Bilzon et al. (2002)88. Bilzon JLJ, Scarpello EG, Bilzon E, Allsopp AJ. Generic taskrelated occupational requirements for Royal Naval personnel. Occup Med. 2002;52(8):503-10. doi doi...	To identify the requirements to perform some tasks on board, quantify the metabolic demands of firefighting tasks and identify tests to predict performance on casualty-carrying tasks among the U.K. Royal Navy	Vertical climb through an escape hatch; open and secure a hatch; open and secure a bulkhead door; fire extinguishing tasks; carry a casualty	Perform routine actions on board; fight fires on board; carry a casualty with and without stretcher	The implementation of Simulated Tasks and predictive physical tests can ensure that the subjects have the critical capabilities to perform their functions on board and survive at sea
Burdon et al. (2019)99. Burdon CA, Carstairs GL, Linnane DM, Middleton KJ. Identifying physically demanding tasks performed by the Royal Australian Navy for the development of a physical employment standard. J Occup Environ Med. 2019;61(9): e384. doi doi...	To identify individual criterion tasks and quantify the physiological demands when the tasks were performed in simulated scenarios among the Australian Navy	Repeatedly handle a 10 to 15 kg crate; simulation of firefighting on board; rescue of a wounded person in a toxic environment; rescue with hose and weight loading	A total of 33 Combat Tasks were listed	Six Combat Tasks were considered critical. In addition, it was shown that a circuit comprising several Simulated Tasks may be the most effective way to find professionals capable to perform their functions
Canino et al. (2019)1010. Canino MC, Foulis SA, Zambraski EJ, Cohen BS, Redmond JE, Hauret KG, et al. US Army physical demands study: differences in physical fitness and occupational task performance between trainees and active-duty soldiers. J Strength Cond Res. 2019;33(7):1864-70. doi doi...	To compare physical fitness and occupational task performance between groups of soldiers with different experiences among the U.S. Army	Sandbag carry; casualty drag; move under direct fire	Load and transport equipment; drag a casualty to a safe place; move under enemy threat	Differences on performance between experienced and inexperienced soldiers were evidenced
Canino et al. (2020)1111. Canino MC, Foulis SA, Cohen BS, Walker LA, Taylor KM, Redmond JE, et al. Quantifying training load during physically demanding tasks in US army soldiers: a comparison of physiological and psychological measurements. Mil Med. 2020;185(5-6): e847. doi doi...	To examine the relationship between total relative oxygen uptake during three soldiering tasks, with two field-expedient measures of training load among the U.S. Army	Sandbag fill; sandbag carry; ammunition can carry	Build a barricade to protect yourself from gunshots; transport ammunition to a combat vehicle	The training load during the execution of Simulated Tasks can be monitored or quantified through heart rate and subjective perception of effort
Carstairs et al. (2016)1212. Carstairs GL, Ham DJ, Savage RJ, Best SA, Beck B, Doyle TL. A box lift and place assessment is related to the performance of several military manual handling tasks. Mil Med. 2016;181(3):258-64. doi doi...	To assess the utility of generic predictive tests and a task-related predictive test in predicting performance against four manual handling tasks among the Australian Army	A pack lift and place; artillery loading; bombing up a tank; bridge building simulation	Lift a field pack and place it on a vehicle; participate in a firing mission; stock a battle tank; build a bridge	Push-ups and pull-ups are poor predictors of a soldier's capacity to perform three of the four manual handling tasks
Foulis et al. (2017b)1313. Foulis SA, Redmond JE, Frykman PN, Warr BJ, Zambraski EJ, Sharp MA. US Army physical demands study: reliability of simulations of physically demanding tasks performed by combat arms soldiers. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3245-52. doi doi...	To determine the reliability of simulated physical soldiering tasks relevant to Combat Arms soldiers the U.S. Army	Sandbag carry; casualty drag; casualty evacuation from a vehicle; move under direct fire; stow ammunition on a tank; load the main gun of a tank; transfer ammunition with a field artillery vehicle; 4-mile foot march	Equipment carries; rescue of casualties; move under enemy threat; transport and store ammunition; travel on foot carrying weapons and equipment	All the Simulated Tasks analyzed in this study showed good reliability indices, which may be useful for evaluation purposes
Foulis et al. (2019)1414. Foulis SA, Canino MC, Cohen BS, Gebhard DL, Redmond JE, Sharp MA. US Army physical demands study: accuracy of occupational physical assessment test classifications for combat arms soldiers. Work. 2019;63(4):571-9. doi doi...	To determine the accuracy of OPAT (Occupational Physical Assessment Test) cut scores and to determine which events contribute to the individuals that are misclassified among the U.S. Army	Sandbag carry; casualty drag; casualty evacuation from a vehicle; move under direct fire; stow ammunition on a tank; load the main gun of a tank; transfer ammunition with a field artillery vehicle; 4-mile foot march	Equipment carries; rescue of casualties; move under enemy threat; transport and store ammunition; travel on foot carrying weapons and equipment	There was a high classification concordance between success on the OPAT and the Simulated Tasks
Jaworski et al. (2015)1515. Jaworski RL, Jensen A, Niederberger B, Congalton R, Kelly KR. Changes in combat task performance under increasing loads in active-duty marines. Mil Med. 2015;180(3):179-86. doi doi...	To determine the effects of load on performance of combat-related tasks among the U.S. Marines	Circuit containing short runs, crawling, mannequin dragging, transport of ammunition boxes and grenade toss	Perform a precision gunshot and evade safely; rescue a casualty; transport ammunition; throw grenades	The data showed that loading more than 30% of the body mass in equipment could decrease the performance on Simulated Tasks
Pandorf et al. (2003)1616. Pandorf CE, Nindl BC, Montain SJ, Castellani JW, Frykman PN, Leone CD. Reliability assessment of two militarily relevant occupational physical performance tests. Can J Appl Physiol. 2003;28(1):27-37. doi doi...	To determine the number of test sessions needed to stabilize performance on two military occupational physical tests and to assess their reliability among the U.S. Army	Indoor 6-station obstacle course; repetitive box-lifting task	Perform displacement under enemy threat; carry equipment to a combat vehicle	Reliability was achieved after the first attempt to the box-lifting task and after two attempts to the obstacle course
Pihlainen et al. (2017)1717. Pihlainen K, Santtila M, Häkkinen K, Kyröläinen H. Associations of physical fitness and body composition characteristics with simulated military task performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;32(4):1089-98. doi doi...	To evaluate the associations of physical fitness and body composition characteristics with anaerobic endurance performance among military personnel of Finland	A circuit containing short runs with change of direction, crawling, obstacles, weight bearing and mannequin dragging	Escape an ambush situation	Important characteristics of a soldier involved with combat are a high level of muscular power in the lower extremities, endurance capacity, large muscle mass in relation to fat mass as well as the external load carried
Reilly et al. (2019)1818. Reilly T, Walsh E, Stockbrugger B. Reliability of FORCE COMBAT™: a Canadian Army fitness objective. J Sci Med Sport. 2019;22(5):591-5. doi doi...	To investigate the number of attempts needed to establish reliability of FORCE COMBAT™ tests among the Canadian Army	Short runs assuming firing positions; sandbag lifts; casualty drag; loaded shuttle; foot-march	Tasks during combat or work in urban environments	Subjects who are already familiar with the FORCE evaluation should complete one FORCE COMBAT^TM practice trial before being assessed
Silva et al. (2020)55. Silva RT, Campos FA, Campos LC, Takito MY, Miron EM, Pellegrinotti IL, et al. Anthropometrical and physical fitness predictors of operational military test performance in Air Force personnel. Int J Exerc Sci. 2020;13(4):1028.	To investigate the relationship between physical and anthropometric parameters with performance on an obstacle course among the Brazilian Air Force	Obstacle course totaling 242.5m	React to an ambush during a mission	A greater distance traveled in the 12-min running test, a heavier free-fat mass and a higher number of sit-ups were correlated with a shorter time on the Obstacle Course
Spiering et al. (2019)1919. Spiering BA, Walker LA, Larcom K, Frykman PN, Allison SC, Sharp, MA. Predicting soldier task performance from physical fitness tests: reliability and construct validity of a soldier task test battery. J Strength Cond Res. 2021;35(10):2749-55. doi doi...	To determine the reliability and construct validity of a battery of tests designed to assess soldier task performance among the U.S. Army	30-m grenade throw; running long jump; 1 repetition maximum box lift; 3.2-km load carriage time trial	Throwing grenades; overcome obstacles; travel on foot carrying weapons and equipment	Performing the tests as a battery had minimal effect on the reliability of the individual tests
Tofari et al. (2013)2020. Tofari PJ, Treloar AKL, Silk AJ. A quantification of the physiological demands of the Army emergency responder in the Australian Army. Mil Med. 2013;178(5):487-94. doi doi...	To investigate the physical and physiological demands of performing tasks among the Australian Army	Fire suppression; casualty drag; climbing stairs with equipment; access to collapsed structures	Firefighting; rescue in an urban area; climbing stairs carrying equipment; perform rescue in collapsed structure	A battery of tests developed to evaluate combat tasks should involve the clothes and loads that will be used in real missions
Treloar et al. (2011)2121. Treloar AKL, Billing DC. Effect of load carriage on the performance of an explosive, anaerobic military task. Mil Med. 2011;176(9):1027-31. doi doi...	To examine the effects of load carriage on performance of an anaerobic military task among the Australian Army	Short sprints assuming firing positions	React to an ambush during a mission; work on urban-based operations	The greatest decrement in performance was observed when loaded soldiers were expected to rise from the prone position and begin sprinting
Treweek et al. (2019)2222. Treweek AJ, Tipton MJ, Milligan GS. Development of a physical employment standard for a branch of the UK military. Ergonomics. 2019;62(12):1572-84. doi doi...	To develop a Physical Employment Standard (PES) for the British Royal Air Force	Foot-march; react to enemy fire; crawl; casualty drag in different ways; lift; climb over a wall	Tactical advance; react to an ambush; rescue a casualty; transport equipment; overcome obstacles to access places of interest	The physiological demands of the 8 Simulated Tasks proposed by the authors were determined

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[1] Associate Editor: Angelina Zanesco0000-0002-2515-1871. ¹Universidade Metropolitana de Santos, Faculdade de Medicina, Santos, SP, Brazil; ²Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Departamento de Educação Física, Instituto de Biociências, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil. E-mail: angelina.zanesco@unesp.br.