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Testing of Body Armor Materials: Phase III (2012)

Chapter: Appendix C Additional Phase III Tasks

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Additional Phase III Tasks." National Research Council. 2012. Testing of Body Armor Materials: Phase III. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13390.
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Appendix C

Additional Phase III Tasks

The statement of task for the study (Box 1-1) listed tasks for each of the three phases of the study. Included as the last task for Phase III of the study was a request for the committee to document in its final report “other issues regarding body armor testing that the committee found relevant.”

In response, this final report addresses the following additional tasks not specifically set forth in the task statement:

  1. Provides a roadmap for reducing the variability of clay processes and for migrating from clay to future solutions.
  2. Considers the use of statistics to permit a more scientific determination of sample sizes to be used in body armor testing. Specifically, the committee was requested to review a statistically based protocol that had been developed by Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation with assistance from Army statisticians and testers.
  3. Develops ideas for revising/replacing the Prather study methodology.
  4. Within the time and funding available, reviews and comments on methodologies and technical approaches to military helmet testing.
  5. Considers the possibility of combining various national body armor testing standards.
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C Additional Phase III Tasks." National Research Council. 2012. Testing of Body Armor Materials: Phase III. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13390.
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In 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the report Warfighter Support: Independent Expert Assessment of Army Body Armor Test Results and Procedures Needed Before Fielding, which commented on the conduct of the test procedures governing acceptance of body armor vest-plate inserts worn by military service members. This GAO report, as well as other observations, led the Department of Defense Director, Operational Test & Evaluation, to request that the National Research Council (NRC) Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences conduct a three-phase study to investigate issues related to the testing of body armor materials for use by the U.S. Army and other military departments. Phase I and II resulted in two NRC letter reports: one in 2009 and one in 2010. This report is Phase III in the study.

Testing of Body Armor Materials: Phase III provides a roadmap to reduce the variability of clay processes and shows how to migrate from clay to future solutions, as well as considers the use of statistics to permit a more scientific determination of sample sizes to be used in body armor testing. This report also develops ideas for revising or replacing the Prather study methodology, as well as reviews comments on methodologies and technical approaches to military helmet testing. Testing of Body Armor Materials: Phase III also considers the possibility of combining various national body armor testing standards.

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