force ready for deployment at a moment's notice, job-specific physical fitness training must be ongoing.

Fitness, which has been defined as the matching of an individual to his physical and social environment, has two goals: health and performance. Physical fitness requirements in the military consist of a basic level of overall fitness required for the health of all individuals and a higher level of fitness that is required for the performance of occupational activities. A number of government and civilian organizations have proposed levels of physical activity that they believe are required for health maintenance. Although there is disagreement among these groups regarding the exact amounts required, there is consensus on the need for daily physical activity, both endurance and resistance, in a healthy lifestyle. In addition to this, the military must address the need for ongoing, job-specific performance training.

Evaluating an individual's physical fitness determines his or her appropriateness for military service both at the time of accession (enlistment) and for purposes of retention. Current military fitness tests are a result of work initiated in response to a DoD symposium conducted in 1981 to review the assessment of military physical fitness as a part of readiness. That symposium indicated the following: (1) services could not provide an accurate assessment of the physical fitness of their personnel; (2) services did not provide total physical fitness programs to personnel of all ages and in all military occupations; (3) leadership and expertise in physical fitness were lacking; and (4) current civilian knowledge was not being incorporated into fitness training (DoD, 1981). As a result of this symposium, DoD Directive 1308.1 (1981) was issued (as described on the first page of this chapter); the report also resulted in the formation of a task force and establishment of the Army Physical Fitness School.

Physical fitness testing at the time of an individual's enlistment varies among the services. The Air Force administers a strength test, the incremental dynamic lift test,¹ at the time of enlistment for determination of job qualification. As will be discussed later, this test was also used at one time by the Army, but it has since been discontinued. Neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps performs a similar assessment of physical fitness at enlistment beyond the height/weight and body composition assessments. By the end of basic combat training (BCT), all active-duty personnel are expected to pass the physical fitness test for their branch of service.

Front Matter (R1-R16)

Executive Summary (1-24)

1 Introduction (25-32)

2 Body Composition (33-60)

3 Physical Fitness Policies and Programs (61-86)

4 Weight Management (87-108)

5 Nutritional Concerns of Military Women (109-126)

6 Pregnancy and Lactation and Postpartum Return-To-Duty Fitness (127-156)

7 Conclusions and Recommendations (157-170)

Appendixes (171-172)

A Workshop Summary, Agenda, Participants, and Abstracts (173-252)

B Practices and Policies Tables (253-262)

C Military Occupational Specialty Classification Tables (263-280)

D Search Strategy for Literature Review (281-284)

E Civilian Inquiry Letter and Table of Responses (285-290)

F Abbreviations (291-294)

G Bibliography (295-334)

H Biographical Sketches (335-338)

Index (339-352)