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Study assesses physical demands for combat arms

Washington completed the tasks as part of the Army’s Physical Demands Study. She was among 89 male and
58 female Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division who volunteered to take part in the study at Fort Stewart. Their
job was to help the Army develop gender-neutral standards for infantry tasks.

Washington, who served a year-long and a 15-month-long deployment in Iraq, said she wants to be in the
infantry. She signed up for the study, she said, to be a part of something bigger than herself and support the
Army as it moves forward in opening combat jobs to women.

“I always dreamed of being an infantrywoman. I wanted to see exactly the experience and everything I learn
from it while I go through the training,” she said, as she prepared to scale a six-foot wall during the testing.

The Physical Demands Study is part of Soldier 2020, the Army’s plan to integrate women into previously closed
military occupational specialties in infantry, combat engineer, field artillery and armor military occupational
specialties.

The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, along with other research institutions, identified 31 common and
physically demanding tasks in these military occupational specialties. Other bases where the study has taken
place include Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Sill, Okla.

The Physical Demands Study, which is distinct from the Army’s gender integration study, is assessing the
strength, endurance, and power required to do combat arms tasks. The 3rd Infantry Division Soldiers trained
and prepared for a month. The testing was done the week of March 10.

Spc. Kendra Avery said she volunteered for the study to be a part of history as women are integrated into
combat roles. She supports “100 percent” women serving in that greater capacity.

Although she does not plan on seeking a combat position, Avery said she took part in the survey to support
women who want to enter those jobs.

“Looking back with my kids and grandkids, I can say, ‘I did this.’ If I can do it, anybody can,” she explained.

As part of the study, Soldiers donned oxygen masks and put on heart-rate monitors before carrying ammunition
boxes weighing 45 pounds each. Army technicians recorded the data on laptops.

Other tasks over the test week included a road march; dragging a 270-pound dummy for 15 meters; moving a
“casualty” out of a vehicle; and loading a TOW-2B Aero Missile into a ground mounted weapon system.

The purpose of the study is to develop gender-neutral physical standards to put the best Soldier — male or
female — in the right job, according to Maj. Gen. John M. Murray, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry
Division.

“We’re equally interested in what’s right for that Soldier, to give Soldiers the ability to be anything they want to
be in the Army,” he said.

In addition, said Murray, the Army will have an opportunity to examine the physical conditioning of Soldiers, and
how to avoid overuse injuries. The study is being conducted in conjunction with U.S. Army Training and
Doctrine Command, and the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.

Edward Zambraski, division chief of U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine Military
Performance Division, is leading the research teams. The goal of the study is to come up with predictive,
physical performance tests that assess different elements of strength, endurance and coordination, Zambraski
said.

“The whole idea of this physical standards study is to develop some tests so essentially we pair the person with
the correct skills and attributes to those demands, so there is less chance of that Soldier being hurt,” he said.

“If we can do that, we’ve achieved a major milestone for the Army,” he said. He said the Army began the testing
last year and has three years to complete the study.