Examining the Relationship Between Mental, Physical, and Organizational Factors Associated With Attrition During Maritime Forces Training

Abstract

For infantry units of the Dutch Ministry of Defence, high attrition rates (varying from 42 to 68%) during initial training are a persisting problem. The reasons for this attrition are diverse. Having better insight into the causes of attrition is a prerequisite for implementing preventive measures. To achieve this, a monitoring assessment system was developed that integrated the effects of physical, mental, and organizational determinants on operational readiness. The aim of this study was to implement the monitoring tools and to establish the set of determinants that best predicted attrition during infantry training of new recruits. Eighty-five recruits were monitored over a 24-week infantry training course. Before the training, recruits were screened for medical, psychological, and physical wellness. During the monitoring phase, mental, physiological, and organizational indicants were obtained using an array of tools such as questionnaires, chest belt monitors (for heart rate, acceleration, and skin temperature measurements), and computerized tests (e.g., vigilance, long-term memory). Survival analyses were used to tease out the determinants of individual and grouped predictors of attrition. Nearly half the recruits (47%) failed the training. Attrition was predicted by both physiological and mental determinants. However, the organizational determinant "trainers' judgment" on the "recruits' military quality" dominated the physiological and mental determinants. It was concluded that the monitoring system was successfully implemented during infantry training, and that the survival analysis method emphasized on single effects and interactions between the different determinants. Based on the current findings, we recommend several steps to successfully implement a monitoring method in settings with high demands.

Non-Invasive Physiological Monitoring for Physical Exertion and Fatigue Assessment in Military Personnel: A Systematic Review

“…As most of the studies performed heart rate measurements [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][54][55][56][57][58]61,62,64], significant increases in mean heart rate values during the most demanding stages of the applied protocols were a consistent finding among the retrieved papers. Due to the heterogeneity of outcome measures within this review, a comparison of obtained values could not be performed.…”

“…Only regular baseline conditions were considered for analysis from the two studies addressing interventions [47,48]. Of the 20 manuscripts, 16 described experimental moments that occurred during different training activities (mountain warfare cold-weather training [64]; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive materials defence [58]; combat [50,51,53]; captivity survival [59,60]; usual military practices [45,49,[55][56][57][61][62][63]). Two were applied during operations [46,54].…”

“…Furthermore, considering continuously assessed variables through non-invasive methods, most of the papers (n = 15) examined different heart rate-related variables [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][54][55][56][57][58]61,62,64] while 10 monitored variables related to the estimation of physical activity mainly based on accelerometer counts [46,[50][51][52][53][54]56,57,60,63]. Three studies were also found that assessed thermal responses, two recording core temperature measurements [54,58] and one evaluating body skin temperature [57]. This latter investigation included a continuous recording of the breath frequency [57], along with both heart rate and physical activity variables.…”

“…Three studies were also found that assessed thermal responses, two recording core temperature measurements [54,58] and one evaluating body skin temperature [57]. This latter investigation included a continuous recording of the breath frequency [57], along with both heart rate and physical activity variables.…”

“…Two of them simultaneously used physical activity trackers (a physical activity tracking software installed on smartphone devices) and logs [52,53]. The two additional studies addressing activity counts retrieved information from an Equivital monitoring system [54,57]. In general, data obtained accurately characterised the intensity of activities performed.…”