Publisher's Synopsis
Anthropometric data describing Army body size distributions are maintained by the Army Materiel Command (AMC) at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC). These data are used to establish design and sizing requirements, engineering solutions, and digital models for vehicular crew stations, portable shelters and workstations, protective clothing, individual life support equipment, and military uniforms. The current U.S. Army Anthropometric Survey (ANSUR) database, now 20 years old, predates the total-Army concept, so it has measurements on active duty Army personnel only. Recent small-scale studies of active duty soldiers at Ft. Bliss, Oklahoma, and of National Guard soldiers at Ft Polk., Louisiana, clearly indicate that both active duty and National Guard soldiers are heavier than the soldiers measured in ANSUR. In addition, height and weight distributions of today's soldiers are substantially more variable than they were in 1988, meaning that the 90% accommodation ranges derived from the ANSUR database may no longer capture 90% of today's soldiers. This report documents the measurement methods and summary statistics from a pilot study (ANSUR II), conducted between June 13, 2006 and September 4, 2008, to (1) assess anthropometric change since 1988 within the Active Army; (2) to assess anthropometric differences among Army Active, Reserve, and National Guard components; and (3) to provide guidance on whether a further, more comprehensive survey and an update of the current ANSUR database are needed. The biggest change in Army anthropometry between 1988 and 2008 may be the dramatic shift in composition of the force. Twenty years ago, most of the nation's fighting force was composed of active duty troops. Today, under the total-Army concept, the Army National Guard and Army Reserves comprise more than one-half of the troops currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. These Army components are essentially unknown from an anthropometric point of view, although it is well known that their demographic composition is different from the active duty Army of 1988.
