• Corpus ID: 238419121

A Critical Review of the Baseline Soldier Physical Readiness Requirements Study

@inproceedings{Novak2021ACR,
  title={A Critical Review of the Baseline Soldier Physical Readiness Requirements Study},
  author={Kyle A. Novak},
  year={2021}
}

• Kyle A. Novak
• Published 6 October 2021
• Psychology

Executive Summary. The Army’s Baseline Soldier Physical Readiness Requirements Study (BSPRRS) was a multiyear effort designed to inform evidence-based change in the Army’s physical fitness test of record from a genderand age-specific standard to a genderand age-neutral standard based on recurring, physically demanding tasks encountered by soldiers. The study determined Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills and Common Soldier Tasks (WTBD/CST); developed a set of four vignettes that simulated those tasks; identified physical fitness test events that were modeled to predict performance on these vignettes; and finally sought to validate that those test events were indeed predictive. The physical fitness test events determined by BSPRRS became the six-event Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT). While the Army may have been well-intentioned in its desire to develop an evidence-based, operationally predictive, and gender-neutral fitness standard, close examination of the BSPRRS model reveals critical mistakes and the lack of rigorous cross-validation. Using the ACFT and the BSPRRS model to guide decisions about soldiers’ physical fitness may contrarily make for a less lethal Army.