Thirty-three infantry soldiers underwent physiological and physical fitness testing in order to compare these tests with performance during a 5-day sustained combat scenario. Testing consisted of measurement of maximal oxygen consumption, dynamic lifting capability and performance of the Army Physical Readiness Test. Field performance of the individuals and of the four squads that they made up was rated by senior NCO evaluators who accompanied squads at all times during the scenario. Neither VO2 max nor APRT score correlated with performance, however, dynamic lift did correlate with performance during the scenario. Data comparisons from this study may have been somewhat hampered by the fact that as a group, these subjects were all in very good to excellent physical condition. All subjects met or exceeded the minimum physical fitness requirements which have been suggested for infantry soldiers. Therefore, it appears that if soldiers are in good physical condition, both in term of aerobic power and muscle strength, and are given four hours of sleep each night, then they have little difficulty in meeting the physical demands of a five day simulated combat scenario. The results indicate that the U.S. Army should continue the strong emphasis on aerobic conditioning and increase the emphasis placed on upper body strength development.
