Research Report Fit for Duty? Evaluating the Physical Fitness Requirements of Battlefield Airmen Sean Robson, Maria C. Lytell, Carra S. Sims, Stephanie Pezard, Thomas Manacapilli, Amanda Anderson, Therese Bohusch, Abigail Haddad C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR618 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-8805-5 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2017 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Foreword The data described in this report were collected from 2011 to 2012 and provided the foundation for ongoing work conducted by the Air Force and RAND. Specifically, the results describing the physical requirements of Battlefield Airmen in this report have since been updated in a more recent job analysis conducted through a collaborative effort by the Air Force and RAND. The results from the updated job analysis will serve as the primary basis for conducting validation studies, which will provide the data necessary for recommending gender-neutral, occupationally relevant tests and standards for Battlefield Airmen. iii Preface Military occupations can be physically demanding, yet few attempts have been made to determine the physical readiness of today’s Airmen to perform their jobs. Although the Air Force conducts fitness testing of all its Airmen, these tests and standards are not based on validated job requirements. Therefore, it is not clear how well an individual must perform on a given test (e.g., sit-ups) to be capable of performing a specific job, or if such a test even measures an ability required by the job. Recognizing the importance of measuring the physical readiness of Airmen, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) asked RAND to provide a methodology to establish physical fitness requirements. To demonstrate this methodology, we conducted an analysis of the physical demands and abilities of four occupational specialties (Combat Controller, Pararescue, Special Operations Weather Team, and Tactical Air Control Party). First, we identified the physical tasks required by each occupational specialty, using existing documents and eliciting feedback from subject- matter experts. Second, we narrowed the list of physical tasks to those most critical by conducting focus groups and interviews with operators in each career field. Third, we conducted an analysis of the physical abilities and movements required to perform the most physically demanding tasks in each specialty. These abilities provided the foundation for the fourth step, identifying valid and reliable fitness tests and measures. This report describes research that extended over 12 months, from October 2011 through September 2012. The research was conducted within the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE. This report should be of interest to Air Force leaders and staff concerned with standards to maintain the physical readiness of Airmen who perform physically demanding tasks as part of their occupational specialty. RAND Project Air Force RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF), a division of the RAND Corporation, is the U.S. Air Force’s federally funded research and development center for studies and analyses. PAF provides the Air Force with independent analyses of policy alternatives affecting the development, employment, combat readiness, and support of current and future aerospace forces. Research is conducted in four programs: Force Modernization and Employment; Manpower, Personnel, and Training; Resource Management; and Strategy and Doctrine. The research reported here was prepared under contract FA7014-06-C-0001. Additional information about PAF is available on our website: http://www.rand.org/paf/. iv This report documents work originally shared with the U.S. Air Force on November 13, 2012. The draft report, issued on July 9, 2013, was scrutinized by U.S. Air Force subject-matter experts and formal peer reviewers. v Contents Foreword ........................................................................................................................................ iii Preface ............................................................................................................................................ iv Figures.......................................................................................................................................... viii Tables ............................................................................................................................................. ix Summary ......................................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... xv Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... xvi 1. Introduction: Establishing a Need for Fitness Standards ............................................................ 1 Entry and Annual Fitness Standards ......................................................................................................... 1 Differences Among Physical Fitness Standards ....................................................................................... 1 Tier I and Tier II Fitness Standards .......................................................................................................... 2 Purpose of Current Study ......................................................................................................................... 3 Existing Research on Battlefield Airmen ................................................................................................. 5 Organization of This Report ..................................................................................................................... 5 2. Validation and Setting Standards ................................................................................................ 6 What Is Validation? .................................................................................................................................. 7 What Job Tasks Are Important? ........................................................................................................... 8 Who Should Identify the Abilities Needed to Perform the Job? .......................................................... 8 How Should the Abilities Be Measured? ............................................................................................. 9 How Can You Tell Which Tests Are Good Indicators of Physical Readiness? ................................... 9 Establishing Standards ............................................................................................................................ 10 What Type of Standard Should Be Set? ............................................................................................. 11 How High Should the Standard(s) Be Set? ........................................................................................ 11 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 12 3. Our Approach for Identifying Physical Requirements of Battlefield Airmen .......................... 13 Step 1. Identify Critical Physical Tasks .................................................................................................. 13 Preliminary Task List ......................................................................................................................... 13 Focus Groups ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Critical Incident Interviews ................................................................................................................ 15 Observations ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Selecting Critical Physical Tasks ....................................................................................................... 16 Step 2. Link Critical Physical Tasks to Abilities ...................................................................................