THEMATIC SESSIONS

Click on the titles to unveil the details of each session.

 
TS#1  |  SLEEP: The impact of sleep on readiness, performance, pain, healing and wellness
Session Organizer Information: Commander Deydre Teyhen, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, USAdeydre.s.teyhen.mil@mail.mil
STANDARD SESSION
  1. Understand the importance of sleep for physical, cognitive, and emotional health and its link to chronic pain.
  2. Integrate screening and assessment of sleep into a routine physical therapy care.
  3. Understand tools and resources to help educate patients on sleep.
  4. Understand common sleep screening tools to help determine when a referral is required for a sleep condition.
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Changes in attention divisibility during survival trainings of soldiers Andrzej Tomczak Poland
Impact of sleep on pain Deydre Teyhen United States
Impact of Sleep on Health, Safety, and Readiness Deydre Teyhen United States
Educating and Coaching Patients on Sleep and Managing Insomnia Jason Silvernail United States
Impact of Sleep Loss and Timing on Decision Making Sean Drummond Australia
Fatigue Rating Increases with Poor Sleep Quantity and Quality in Males and Females during 6-Month Military Officer Training Amelia Barrett United States
Screening and Knowing When to Refer for Sleep Problems David Boland United States
 
 
TS#2  |  An International Problem and Collaboration to Predicting and Preventing Injuries in the Military
Session Organizer Information: Commander Deydre Teyhen, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, USAdeydre.s.teyhen.mil@mail.mil
PANEL SESSION
  1. Can movement screens be used to identify those at increased risk for injury?
  2. Can a better understanding of movement control, movement quality, and potential associations with injury risk, inform specific movement education and physical training interventions to mitigate injury risk?
  3. How can we best leverage the 70 international members of the International Movement Screening and Interventions Group to improve Soldier readiness and lethality by decreasing musculoskeletal injuries?
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Musculoskeletal Injuries: How to Eat the Elephant in the Room? Deydre Teyhen United States
Screening for Musculoskeletal Risk Factors:  The Evolution of Individualized Risk Categories and Self-Screening Kyle Kiesel United States
Assessing and Improving Movement Quality in UK Military Personnel  Can a Better Understanding of the Problem Inform a Simple Solution? Joanne Fallowfield United Kingdom
Accurate Prediction Depends on Accurate Assessment: Self-Limiting Beliefs and Cultural Barriers Influence Musculoskeletal Injury Reporting Sarah de la Motte United States
Injury Prevention in Sport: What Works and How is this Relevant to the Military? Oluwatoyosi Owoeye United States
 
 
TS#3  |  Factors Affecting Soldier Shooting Performance
Session Organizer Information: Mr. William Harper, U.S. Army Data and Analysis Center, USAwilliam.h.harper52.civ@mail.mil
STANDARD SESSION
This session will examine training and weapon design characteristics that may affect the marksmanship of Soldiers and how they fight with their weapon.  The goal of the session will be to provide examples of the many factors that affect overall system performance.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Profiling Novice Marksmen: The first step in providing personalized training interventions Olaf Binsch Netherlands
Human Factors Assessment of Small Arms Recoil Allan Keefe Canada
A combination of a march and a short exhausting-exercise with load-carriage decrease
physical performance and marksmanship accuracy.		 Julien Siracusa France
Small Arms Fire Control COTS (TP, KPATS) Evaluation Summary Patrick Wiley United States
The Effects of Weapon Recoil on Soldier Shooting Performance William Harper United States
 
 
TS#4  |  Real-Time Monitoring to Prevent Heat Injury
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Mark Buller, USARIEM, USAmark.j.buller.civ@mail.mil
STANDARD SESSION
The goal of the session is to present the current state of the art in real-time physiological status monitoring for heat related injury mitigation. The session will demonstrate how both advanced sensors systems, models and algorithms are being combined in an international and collaborative way and how this is providing real solutions to military units.  Session presenters will present real technical solutions that are being adopted within their respective countries, and recent advances in HRI markers from large scale field studies.

ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
The ARMOR Heat Monitor  Validation and implementation of real time heat stress monitoring in the Netherlands Army Bertil Veenstra Netherlands
Optimising work capacity during air force operations in extreme heat Alison Fogarty Australia
Mathematical Models to Estimate Personalised Heat Strain in the Singapore Armed Forces Kok Yong Seng Singapore
Individual Markers & Risk Factors of Exertional Heat Illness During Arduous Military Training: Application of the Fort Benning Model in the United Kingdom Simon Delves United Kingdom
Predicting Exertional Heat Stroke from Simple Wearables. Mark Buller United States
 
 
TS#5  |  Global warming and urbanization - implications on the modern Warfighters’ preparation and operation
Session Organizer Information: Dr Jason Lee, University of Singapore, Singaporephsjlkw@nus.edu.sg
PANEL SESSION
Major global trends including rapid urbanisation and climate change have a significant impact on the preparation of modern Warfighters and the conduct of war operations. These trends are not only triggers for conflict, such as through land-use changes and resource scarcity, but also change the environments in which conflict takes place: densely populated urban landscapes, hotter conditions, more intense cyclones and storms. Climate hazards including sea level rise and intense storm events have received attention from military thinkers and policy makers, in part because they can be more easily modelled against major physical assets. However, extreme heat has received less attention despite the long history of research on heat management in the military. Papers presented in this session consider how global heating and urbanisation affect Warfighters’ preparation and performance and how this, in turn, may affect war operations. Potential topics include: advanced heat mitigation strategies (cool vs. warm training, isothermic conditioning, individualized physiological monitoring), non-physiological approaches such as psychological manipulation, implications of chronic exposure to extreme heat for Warfighters’ wellbeing, and socio-ecological approaches that situate Warfighters in a broader eco-system of societal services to sustain activities and bases in extreme conditions.

ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Impacts of climate change on national security and Warfighters' health Andreas Flouris Greece
Psychological manipulation to enhance warfighter performance in the heat Stephen Cheung Canada
Climate change implications for operations: rethinking chronic heat management through the lens of co-production Elspeth Oppermann Germany
Advanced heat management for Warfighters in the heat Jason Lee Singapore
Evidence of re-activation of a previous four-month heat acclimatization more than six months later in a military context Alexandra Malgoyre France
 
 
TS#6  |  Options and strategies to enhance individual operational readiness
Session Organizer Information: Dr Dieter Leyk , Bundeswehr Institute for Preventive Medicine, GermanyLeyk@dshs-koeln.de
STANDARD SESSION
Lifestyle changes in many societies towards sedentary and unhealthy behaviors are reflected in military populations. This presents a major challenge to many nations. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for armed forces to develop strategies that counter these negative influences and ensure the operational readiness of each individual soldier. This session will present approaches, experiences, and insights from different nations to this challenge and discuss the merits of different strategies. Goal is to identify best practice options for the military operator as well as issues that require further research.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
BALANCE - The Canadian Armed Forces Physical Performance Strategy: Creating the conditions to support optimal physical activity, sleep, nutrition and injury prevention practices Michael Spivock Canada
Health & Readiness Programmes in the Netherlands Armed Forces: a pivotal role for lifestyle coaching Pieter Helmhout Netherlands
Options and strategies to enhance individual operational readiness: A German research perspective Alexander Witzki Germany
Concepts and Actions to Enhance US Air Force 21st Century Physical Fitness Testing and Training: Incentives, Accountability, Test Anxiety, and Test Resources Neal Baumgartner United States
Cognitive Demands and Requirements of Soldier Tasks: An Argument For "Putting The Head Back On The Soldier Kristin Heaton United States
 
 
TS#7  |  Individual variability in fatigue management
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Fabien Sauvet, Armed Forces Biomedical research Institute, Francefabien.sauvet@gmail.com
PANEL SESSION
Fatigue countermeasure is a main concern in military operation. Indeed, fatigue induce decrease of performance and increase the risk of accident and injuries. Fatigues countermeasures developed in armies, air forces and navy are efficient (siesta, nap, caffeine) and reduce effect of fatigue induced by sleep deprivation. However, efficiency of theses countermeasures are characterized by a high individual variability due to genetic back ground, sleep habits, fitness... Understand this variability is a scientific challenge. The aim of this session is to present studies and point of view related to the influence of individual variability evaluated in countermeasures used to prevent fatigue induced decrease of performance. Our objective is to propose new strategies of fatigue mitigation.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Special Forces operators' sleep and fatigue management: how one size does not fit all Nathalie Pattyn Belgium
The impact of genetic variations in ADORA2A in the association between caffeine consumption and sleep Fabien SAUVET France
Genetic polymorphisms influence on sustained attention and sleepiness before and during total sleep deprivation in healthy subjects ERBLANG Mégane France
Individualized Interventions to Optimize and Enhance Warfighter Alertness Francisco Vital-Lopez United States
 
 
TS#8  |  Environmental Extremes: Pushing the Limits of Human Tolerance
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Beth Beidleman, Biophysics and Biomedical Modeling Division USARIEM,USAbeth.a.beidleman.civ@mail.mil
PANEL SESSION
The goal of the session is to explore new and relevant physical and cognitive performance problems encountered in the most extreme environments (e.g., space, jungle, frigid cold, under the sea, and altitude).  This session will provide forward-thinking solutions for the Warfighter to overcome physical, cognitive, and mental challenges that give them an advantage to defeat the enemy in the most extreme conditions.  Given that our Future Force must deploy anywhere and everywhere to fight against our adversary, excelling in these extreme environments will secure future success in military missions.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Thermoregulation during a Mock Arctic Training Scenario Wearing a Closed Cell Wetsuit Karen Kelly United States
Thermal, Autonomic and Perceptual Responses During Repeated Cold-Water Immersions in Sustained Hypoxia Michail Keramidas Sweden
Effect of heat acclimation on muscle metabolic adaptations induced by endurance training: an animal model Pierre-Emmanuel
Tardo-Dino		 France
Skeletal Responses to Extended Duration Space Flight Julie Greeves United Kingdom
Expedition Ice Maiden: Endocrine, Reproductive and Skeletal Responses to the First All-Female Unassisted Antarctic Expedition Thomas O'Leary United Kingdom
Outperforming the Heat in the Jungle: Development of an Individual and Group Heat Acclimatization Training Tool Mark Buller United States
Operational Sustainment in Extreme Diving Environments: Hyperoxia and Thermoregulatory Considerations John Florian United States
Altitude:  Performing on the Edge in Sickness and in Health Beth Beidleman United States
 
 
TS#9  |  The Soldier Behind the Weapon: Context Driven Tactical Marksmanship
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Leif Hasselquist, US Army, CCDC Soldier Center, Biomechanics & Engineering Team, USAleif.hasselquist.civ@mail.mil
STANDARD SESSION
The goals of this session are to characterize the tactical marksman behind the weapon through their unique biomechanical and physical performance traits. Talks will focus on the following: identification of physical attributes relative to marksmanship skill level, modeling of the Soldier through the identification of key postural factors across the entire marksmanship process, identifying the Soldiers' physical performance components of aiming and the influence of kit configuration, defining the biomechanical aspects of the warfighter's tactical gait, and the human factors of recoil management. This session will give insight into the optimization of the tactical warfighter during the important skill of tactical marksmanship.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
The Effects of Mass and Mass Location on Shot Time Jemma Coleman Australia
Biomechanics and marksmanship performance of loaded and unloaded walking while maintaining weapon aim Maria Talarico United States
Quantifying the Physical Attributes and Performance Metrics of Expert Marksmen Relative to Novice Marksmen Leif Hasselquist United States
The benefits of using a marksmanship simulator for training and rapid assessments of performance across the entire marksmanship process Stephanie Brown United States
 
 
TS#10  |  Methods for Assessment of Soldier Performance and Effectiveness at the Individual and Small Unit Level
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Leif Hasselquist, US Army, CCDC Soldier Center, Biomechanics & Engineering Team, USAleif.hasselquist.civ@mail.mil
STANDARD SESSION
This symposium will identify research efforts related to individual performance and progress to squad performance. Performance is nominally influenced by physical, nutritional, health, cognitive, and social-emotional factors that affect the individual Soldier and the squad. From the individual Soldier perspective the session will address a physiological, biomechanical and cognitive assessment methodology applied to the individual Soldier in the field environment. Logical progression of these research efforts is to assess the performance of the tactical small unit or the squad. Keep in mind that 'true' objective assessment of military teams is really in its infancy and arguably researchers are still only assessing / aggregating groups of individuals using output metrics.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Lessons Learned for Measuring Dismounted Soldier Performance and Effectiveness under Stress Joan Johnston United States
Changes in muscle activity of the military simulation test performed twice during the 6-month military operation Kai Pihlainen Finland
Greater than the Sum of its Parts: The Objective Assessment of Tactical Small Unit Performance Graham Fordy New Zealand
Measuring Workload and Stress in Operational Virtual Reality Settings by Combining Actigraphy and Heart Rate Olaf Binsch Netherlands
Development of a Framework for Dismounted Infantry Team Performance Measurement David  Tack Canada
A Methodology to Measure the Interplay of Cognition and Physical Performance of the Individual Soldier during a Field Exercise Leif Hasselquist United States
Multi-stage shuttle fitness test performance predicts 2-km performance in recreationally active individuals Josh Osofa United Kingdom
Characterizing Tactical Performance during Sustained Live-Fire Exercises John Ramsay United States
 
 
TS#11  |  Understanding the protection-performance-vulnerability tradespace to enhance overall soldier survivability and effectiveness
Session Organizer Information: Mrs. Linda Bossi, Defence Research Development, CanadaLinda.Bossi@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
STANDARD SESSION
The goals of this session are to better understand and model the tradespace between ballistic protection, its impact on soldier physiology, biomechanics, behaviour and performance, and resulting soldier vulnerability to enemy action. Such knowledge and models can inform the design of solutions that will enhance soldier performance, mitigate casualties, and ensure higher levels of operational readiness and effectiveness in future, such as modular scalable ballistic protective systems, supported by data-driven decision-support systems (e.g., physiological monitoring informing analytic software) that enable soldiers and their leadership to adopt the most appropriate protective posture for the operational situation. This session will consider the relationship between armour system characteristics, soldier response and performance, resultant vulnerability and survivability, as well as the solution space, including approaches for modelling these and armour systems design.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Effect of Personal Protective Equipment on Agility in U.S. Marines Trevor Viboch United States
Survivability and Physical Performance Testing: A Human-Centered Design Approach of Personal Protection Systems for Combat Operations Pinata Sessoms United States
A novel framework for assessing the tradespace between soldier physical performance, survivability, and health Ryan Graham Canada
The effect of wearing body armour and additional load on pulmonary function and soldier performance. Nicola Armstrong United Kingdom
The effect of load-induced mobility decrement on soldier vulnerability to enemy fire in a danger crossing scenario Andrew Morton Canada
The Effect of Body Armour Design on Soldier Combat Mobility Linda Bossi Canada
Impact of Light-Weight Hard Armour Systems on Marine Vulnerability Mark Richter United States
 
 
TS#12  |  Military Operations in the Arctic
Session Organizer Information: Dr Karl Friedl USARIEM Senior Research Scientist, Physiologykarl.e.friedl3.civ@mail.mil
STANDARD SESSION
The Arctic is an unforgiving environment that requires special training and equipment. The austere surroundings and extreme temperatures present special challenges to human performance enhancement, including protecting hands and manual dexterity. Native cold-dwellers have established traditional practices that allow them to successfully operate in this environment. Some of these practices can be emulated by soldiers training for Arctic operations; other aspects of success are more elusive but, if the science basis can be determined, thermogenic Arctic rations, optimal design of protective equipment, enhanced “comfortably cold” thermal tolerance, and other advantages to extend human performance in the cold may be possible. This panel will combine current knowledge and practices of cold dwelling native peoples and experienced Arctic soldiers with recent research findings on soldier materiel and training, and end with next steps for an Arctic soldier research roadmap.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
An Arctic soldiers perspective on success in the cold Émilie
Gauthier-Wong		 Canada
Review of Canadian Armed Forces personal protective equipment during Canadian Arctic Operations Wendy Sullivan-Kwantes Canada
Cold-induced thermogenesis in lean and obese young men Kong Chen United States
Pulk contra Backpacks. Examination on the efficiency of pulk versus backpacks during a Military Ski March in North Norway. Svein Martini Norway
Wet Equivalent air Temperature: an index for wet clothing duration limit of exposure in cold and wet environments Boris Kingma Netherlands
Operating in cold climates: Not one size fits all François Haman Canada
 
 
TS#13  |  Female Specific Considerations for Optimizing Soldier Performance through Better Clothing and Equipment Fit
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Debbie Risius, Human & Social Sciences Group DSTL, UKdjrisius@dstl.gov.uk
STANDARD SESSION
The goal of the proposed session on Clothing and Individual Equipment: Female Specific Considerations is to identify some of the existing HSI issues for female personnel, identify differences between male and female users in current in-service CIE and to suggest mitigations to these issues in order to optimise the operational performance of female personnel.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Is body armour wear associated with breast discomfort and breast injuries among Australian Army female soldiers? Celeste Elizabeth Coltman Australia
Incidence of Breast Health Issues in British Army Female Recruits during Basic Training: a Pilot Study Jenny Burbage United Kingdom
Impacts on Range Of Motion in Body Armor for Males and Females K Blake Mitchell United States
 
 
TS#14  |  Interaction between Physical and Cognitive workload and performance
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Maurice van Beurden, TNO, Netherlandsmaurice.vanbeurden@tno.nl
STANDARD SESSION
This session aims to increase the understanding of soldier’s cognitive load in interaction with the physical environment. Soldiers often operate under physically demanding circumstances and environments. Examples are high and low temperatures, rough terrain, and carrying heavy loads.  Many of these factors do not only impact physical performance but also impact cognitive performance. At this moment there is an insufficient understanding of the interacting effects of physical and cognitive load under a range of environmental circumstances. In addition, few studies have researched the effects of modern assistive soldier technology (e.g., tactical displays or augmented reality) on cognitive workload. This session aims to further advance the understanding of soldiers’ cognitive performance in interaction with their physical environment as well as innovative technology. Findings in this field will lead to better cognitive requirements of future equipment and technology during the procurement of new equipment. In addition, the knowledge acquired can result in improved soldier performance and safety.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Cognitive load under physical demanding circumstances Maurice van Beurden Netherlands
Reducing Physical Workload by Adding more Weight: 
The Impact of Dismounted Soldier Information Technology on Soldier Workload and Performance		 Linda Bossi Canada
Cognitive and Physical Performance of Dismounted Soldiers during a Simulated Patrol Harrison Crowell United States
Interactions between physical workload and cognitive performance during prolonged load carriage Angela Boynton United States
The interaction between physical and cognitive performance during military survival training (SERE) Kari Kallinen Finland
 
 
TS#16  |  Factors that impact and prepare individuals to be resilient in cognitively demanding environments
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Ben Rattray, University of Canberra, Australiaben.rattray@canberra.edu.au
STANDARD SESSION
Military personnel face particularly unique challenges to operational performance, including combinations of extreme physical and mental fatigue, high levels of anxiety and stress, and environments of great unpredictability. As such, training must prepare individuals to be resilient and sustain performance in challenging conditions. Personnel are prepared for and trained to tolerate many of the stressors they may encounter; however, consideration of stressors typically extends only as far as the physical, psychological and environmental requirements of a given task. Here we consider these, and wider issues that look to aid operational performance in a military context with a particular focus on performance under cognitively demanding situations.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Conceptualising what we need to consider to better study, plan for, and improve cognitive resilience Ben Rattray Australia
The Effects of Differing Stressors on Fatigue Bart Roelands Belgium
Nutritional interventions & cognition Romain Meeusen Belgium
Psychological correlates of cognitive resilience to a physical challenge: does stress mindset protect cognition? Andrew Flood Australia
Physiological Interventions to Promote Cognitive Resilience Kristy Martin Australia
 
 
TS#17  |  Answers from the Lab, Field, and Frontlines: a Holistic Approach to Maximizing 21st Century Soldier Health and Performance
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Andrew G. Thompson, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, USAAndrewG.Thompson@hsc.wvu.edu
STANDARD SESSION
Military operations often demand extreme workloads in perhaps the harshest and most-dangerous environments. Adversaries are constantly advancing and there is no single domain that provides a turn-key solution to adapt and overcome. Furthermore, the optimization of next-generation Soldier performance programs poses a unique challenge as virtually no aspect of human health or performance occurs in a vacuum. Rather, a complex and complementary set of systems integrate psychological and physiological processes in response to task demands and environmental stimuli. The results of this dynamic determine success or failure, contribute to health outcomes, and often tax systemic resources beyond acute recovery capabilities, eventually causing breakdown to outpace repair. This ever-evolving, complex, and multi-faceted nature of combat operations creates the need for interdisciplinary, cross-domain solutions that significantly influence operators, their facilitators, and other decision makers who impact the soldier performance management system. Our thematic session aims to tackle those needs head-on, by providing the latest, empirically-supported solutions, direct from the scientists, practitioners, and leaders who have successfully employed them at elite levels.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Embedding the Cognitive Element into Soldier Training and Testing Paradigms Andrew G. Thompson United States
Recovery Science:
Utilizing Emerging Technologies and Tools to Optimize Recovery and Enhance Short Term and Long Term Tactical Performance		 Josh Hagen United States
Simplicity as the Platform for Complexity: Principle Based Training Innovations for the Modern Warfighter Nathan Palin United States
Anchoring Strength & Conditioning philosophy within an organization Luuk Nissen Netherlands
Proposed Strategies for Translating Multimodal Data Streams in Human Performance Jason Stone United States
 
 
TS#18  |  Current and future opportunities for wearable assistive technologies across Defence
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Kurt Mudie, Land Division DST, AustraliaKurt.mudie@dst.defence.gov.au
PANEL SESSION
This session will provide a state-of-the-art insight on existing international exoskeleton military efforts, discussing current exoskeleton technology maturity and where we believe future efforts should be focussed. This will be beneficial to military stakeholders by informing decision makers about present and potential future applications of assistive technologies specific to military. Further, this information will help guide future directions of Defence researchers, industry and academia’ for the targeted development and assessment of new technologies that may offer the greatest potential for physically augmenting critical tasks across Defence. The goals of this session are to, (1) highlight potential opportunities for wearable assistive technologies to provide the greatest benefit to the Warfighter; (2) present findings of current technology evaluations from four nations; and (3) discuss overall technology maturity and potential future directions.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Walking with a semi-anthropomorphic quasi-passive exoskeleton does not increase energy expenditure
and reduces biomechanical loading of soldiers while walking with a heavy load		 Milene Catoire Netherlands
Redistributing the load carried from the shoulders to the hips: an interdisciplinary evaluation of the VIRTUS Dynamic Weight Distribution System. Nicola Armstrong United Kingdom
Physical augmentation opportunities within close combat operations Angela Boynton United States
Characterizing Human Motor Adaptation to an Ankle Exoskeleton System Meghan O'Donovan United States
Development of a Targeted Familiarization Protocol for Optimizing Adaptation for Learning to Walk with a Passive Load-Bearing Exoskeleton Elyann Périard-Fournier Canada
Reduced effectiveness of a passive lower limb exoskeleton during a prolonged loaded march Kurt Mudie Australia
 
 
TS#19  |  Into the field: Wearable sensors to quantify laboratory grade metrics in an operational environment
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Jennnifer Neugebauer, US Army Futures Command, USAjennifer.n.sperlein.civ@mail.mil
PANEL SESSION
The overall objective of this proposed session is to explore current efforts related to using wearable sensors to assess physical performance outside of the laboratory including (1) the validation between wearable and gold standard, (2) novel methods to exploit the data provided from the sensors, (3) applications of wearable sensors to quantify warfighter performance, and (4) discussions of future work that’s needed to continue to move the field forward (e.g. hardware, software, validation, mathematical methods, etc).
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Using Activity Monitors to Objectively Measure Skeletal Loading in Military Personnel: Performance to Injury Applications Jennifer Neugebauer United States
Validation of Wearable Sensors for the Detection of Spatio-Temporal Gait Events during Running and Walking Truman Gabriel United States
Considerations when collecting whole-body tactical movements under load using wearable IMU sensors Matthew Mavor Canada
Accuracy of activity zone classification between heart rate reserve and accelerometry in military field exercise Andy Siddall United Kingdom
Validation of wearable sensors to identify military relevant activities in the field Rebecca Fellin United States
A comparison of multiple machine learning algorithms on the prediction of gait events during load carriage Kurt Mudie Australia
Classification of Warfighter movements using data from a single Inertial Measurement Unit Kurt Mudie Australia
Accuracy of Energy Expenditure Estimation with or without Heat Flux Information Heikki Peltonen Finland
 
 
TS#20  |  Cognitive Performance in Military Personnel Exposed to Harsh Environments
Session Organizer Information: Mr. Jay Heaney, Warfighter Performance, Naval Health Research Center, USAjay.h.heaney.civ@mail.mil
STANDARD SESSION
The intent of this session will be to advance the knowledge of cognitive performance and any associated impact on performance when conducing military operations (either in training or in-theater operations) and exposed to harsh extremes. This may include cold/warm climates, water immersion, or altitude and hypoxic conditions. The panel will provide a variety of methods/technologies that are sensitive enough to discriminate a change in cognitive performance which in most cases will be a decrement in performance. Additionally, the panel members will discuss mitigation strategies to prevent or reduce the severity of performance decrements and potential methods to expedite the recovery timeline back to baseline cognitive performance.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
The Impact of Environmental Stress on Cognitive Performance: Commonalities and Points of Difference Kristy Martin Australia
Impairment and Recovery of Psychomotor Tasks during a Military Cold Water Immersion and Rewarming Exercise Douglas Jones United States
Temporal Dynamics of Cognitive Operations during a Military Cold Water Immersion and Rewarming Exercise Weimin Zheng United States
The importance of the perceptual component of thermal stress in physical and cognitive performance Jeroen Van Cutsem Belgium
Emotion Recognition and Vigilance is Compromised During Military Operational Stress Meaghan Beckner United States
Cold Noise: Ex-Gaussian Analysis Reveals Shifts, Stretching, and Individual Differences in Response Time Distributions Due to Cold Stress Timothy Dunn United States
 
 
TS#21  |  Reducing Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSkIs) in the Armed Force
Session Organizer Information: Mr. Graham White, DSTL , UKgwhite1@mail.dstl.gov.uk
STANDARD SESSION
The goals of this session are to, (1) present findings of current efforts across allied nations in preventing MSkIs; (2) highlight similarities and differences between methods for reducing MSkIs in allied nations and discuss potential opportunities for pooling efforts and data; and (3) discuss overarching themes and challenges in the area of musculoskeletal injury prevention in an Armed Forces environment.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Injury and Relationship to Annual Fitness Scores in Marine Corps Recruits Karen Kelly United States
Treatment and Prevention of Exercise Related Leg Pain in young Soldiers Wes Zimmermann Netherlands
Musculoskeletal Modeling and Simulation of Military Load Carriage Jordan Sturdy United States
Measuring Overtraining Markers to Predict Injury in Military Personnel Paula Poh United States
Influence of Training Load on Injury Risk during British Army Officer Cadet Initial Military Training Steven Powell United Kingdom
Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Injury Rates: Factors to consider when making comparisons across nations Susan Proctor United States
The Role of Vitamin D in Musculoskeletal Injury Risk Julie Greeves United Kingdom
The long-term impact of injuries encountered during Basic Military Training Damien Van Tiggelen Belgium
 
 
TS#22  |  Optimizing Mental and Physical Resilience to Improve Soldier Readiness
Session Organizer Information: Prof. Bradley Nindl, Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, USAbnindl@pitt.edu
STANDARD SESSION
The goal of this session will to be present state-of-the-science research and knowledge on resilience as applied to military paradigms. Resilience can be operationally defined as “the capacity to overcome the negative effects of setbacks and associated stress on cognitive and physical function or performance”. A resilience roundtable at the 4th ICSPP concluded that valid and reliable resilience strategies are needed that promote optimal readiness in the face of unanticipated, adverse stressors allowing service members to be equipped for a variety of scenarios. The talks for this session will center on pre-conditioning, neuromodulatory interventions, sex differences, biomarkers, and the relative contributions of physiological and psychological within a military resilience context.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Sex differences in the recovery of physical performance and physiological markers after strenuous military field training Hilde Teien Norway
High Grit Scores Associated With Elevated BDNF During Military Operational Stress Meaghan Beckner United States
Adaptability, emotion perception and attention: tactical cognitive resilience in response to operational stress Amy Haufler United States
Emerging Neuromodulatory Interventions to Enhance Military Cognitive and Physiological Resiliency Shawn Flanagan United States
BIOMARKER RESPONSES UNDERLYING MILITARY OPERATIONAL AND EXTREME STRESS Brian martin United States
The Impact of Pre-conditioning on Soldier Resilience during Military Training and Operations Herbert Groeller Australia
 
 
TS#23  |  Musculoskeletal injuries in military personnel – descriptive epidemiology, risk factor identification, and prevention
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Mita Lovalekar, Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research, USAMitaL@pitt.edu
STANDARD SESSION
Military personnel participate in physical activity to enhance fitness to be able to perform the physically demanding tasks required as a part of their occupation. Physical activity can lead to unintended adverse events, including musculoskeletal injuries. This thematic session will include presentations on the description of and identification of risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries in military populations including those among U.S. Army soldiers, Naval Special Warfare Operators and students, and the British Army. The session will also include a discussion of the utility of new cutting-edge technologies and analysis strategies to understand the prevention and management of musculoskeletal injuries, including physical activity monitors in military settings, and a machine learning algorithm to enhance decision making in the management of Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
A Machine Learning Algorithm to enhance decision making in the management of Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome Phil Newman Australia
Descriptive Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Injuries among Naval Special Warfare Personnel Mita Lovalekar United States
Sex Differences in Bone Anabolism in U.S. Army Soldiers is Partially Explained by Baseline Bone Microarchitecture during Basic Combat Training Kathryn Taylor United States
Musculoskeletal Injuries Receiving Lost Duty Days in the U.S. Army from 2017-2018 Tanja Roy United States
Relationship of Musculoskeletal Injuries, Physical Fitness, and Military Performance in the U.S. Army Keith Hauret United States
Musculoskeletal injury rates among NSAID users in the IDF: a decades perspective Chen Fleischmann Israel
Physical Activity Monitoring to Quantify Training Load and Inform Injury Prevention Strategies Sam Blacker United Kingdom
Causes of Injury and Associated Days of Limited Duty among Soldiers in the U.S. Army Bruce Jones United States
 
 
TS#24  |  Load Effects Assessment Program (LEAP) – Assessing Dismounted Soldier Physical Performance
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Thomas Karakolis, Defence Research Development, CanadaThomas.Karakolis@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
STANDARD SESSION
For this session, physical burden will be defined as the weight, bulk, and stiffness of the clothing and equipment that a dismounted soldier must carry during either an administrative move or during a tactical scenario. The effect of physical burden is evident to nearly all dismounted soldiers; however, the ability to quantify the effect remains a challenge. In this sense, it can be said that the true effect of physical burden on soldier performance remains largely unknown.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Isolated and combined effects of mass, bulk an stiffness of clothing and equipment on LEAP performance using a newly developed clothing & equipment characteristics suit Kaj Gijsbertse Netherlands
Effect of Loaded Military Operation on Soldiers Physical Performance Dr Dayangku Nurhayatul
Filzah Pengiran Damit		 Brunei
The effect of soft armour coverage and fatigue on soldier performance during the Load Effects Assessment Program (LEAP) Kristina Gruevski Canada
Load Effects Assessment Program Mobility, Lethality and Survivability (LEAP MLS) Variant: Integration of Lethality and Survivability Metrics into a Military Operational Test Platform Stephanie A. T. Brown United States
Load Weight, Bulk and Stiffness Parameterization of Soldier Body-Borne Equipment:  Effective Predictors of Combat Mobility? Monica Jones United States
Impact of Light-Weight Hard Armour Systems on Marine Mobility Performance David Tack Canada
 
 
TS#25  |  Improving Firefighter Health and Performance
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Jo Ellen Sefton, Professor, Director Warrior Research Center United Statesjmsefton@auburn.edu
PANEL SESSION
This session is designed to address issues common to firefighters from tactical units, small villages, or large urban areas: fitness, hydration, and environmental exposure. Together this panel will address these issues through discussions of current practice and research in fitness screening, fitness improvement, injury prevention, hydration issues, and rest-work protocols. Recommendations will be provided on how to assess current operations and implement improvements that will improve tactical athlete health, safety and performance. The issues addressed in this panel also apply to non-firefighter tactical athletes.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
A Public Health Approach to Injury Prevention and Wellness in the Fire Service Zachary Winkelmann United States
Recommendations for Developing and Implementing a Comprehensive Fire Service Screening Assessment Kenneth Games United States
Development of a Work  Rest Protocol for Firefighter Recovery Operations Kaitlin McGinnis United States
Strength and Conditioning for Firefighter Trainees:Improving Health, Fitness and Occupational Performance with Limited Resources Jay Dawes United States
The impact of a live structural fire on firefighter hydration Robin Orr Australia
 
 
TS#26  |  The implications of emerging technology on military human performance in the next decade
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Daniel Billing, Australian Counsellor Defence Science and Technology, South Koreadaniel.billing@dfat.gov.au
PANEL SESSION
The pace of military modernisation and the emergence of new capabilities arising from technology innovation will have a significant impact on the character of war and on how military operations will be conducted, including the fundamental role of the warfighter. This Thematic Session will examine the positive and negative impact of these emerging technologies on military human performance requirements over the next decade. We will also discuss how military human performance researchers can help to better position and enable Defence agencies to respond to the strategic challenges associated with emerging technologies.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Examination of how emerging technologies may impact military human performance requirements at a strategic,
operational and tactical level.		 Graham Fordy New Zealand
The impact of emerging technologies on military human performance researchers in the next decade. Dan Billing South Korea
How can military human performance researchers help to better position Defence agencies to respond to the strategic challenges associated with emerging technologies? Henriette Hasselstrom Denmark
Managing the impacts of emerging technology on military human performance in the next decade Karl Friedl United States
 
 
TS#27  |  Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull: Potential Value of this Field Expedient Test
Session Organizer Information: Mr. Etienne Chassé, Human Performance Research and Development, CanadaETIENNE.CHASSE@forces.gc.ca
PANEL SESSION
This international panel session will focus on some key metrics research or military scientist can withdraw from performances on the IMTP. Simple output metrics from an IMTP can provide useful information to scientist and military Chain of Command. This session will outline methodology, practicality and predicting ability of the IMT.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Utility of an Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull Test to Assess Neuromuscular Fatigue During an Urban Operations Casualty Evacuation Task Sarah Needham-Beck United Kingdom
Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull Normative Data for over 1000 Canadian Officer Cadets Evan S Walsh Canada
Number of Trials Required to Record True Peak Force on Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull in young Canadian Military Recruits Etienne Chassé Canada
Relationship Between Physical Performance and MSKI in Australian Army Recruits Jace Drain Australia
 
 
TS#28  |  Physical training for military operations: what are the requirements for sex-specific conditioning
Session Organizer Information: Dr. Tim Doyle, PhDtim.doyle@mq.edu.au
PANEL SESSION
This session will look at how these sex differences manifest in a Military setting and how they can be mitigated.
Specifically, this session will discuss:
  1. an overview of the current status of the scientific literature related to sex-specific training for military operations,
  2. physical performance measures and biomechanical and neuromuscular adaptations as they relate to a periodised conditioning program for load carriage, focussing on male and female differences during the march, and in response to the 10-week training program
  3. general physical training strategies for female warfighters.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Operationalizing Optimal Physical Training Strategies for the Successful Integration of Women in Ground Combat Roles Bradley Nindl United States
Males and females respond differently over a 5 km loaded march and after 10 weeks of training Tim Doyle Australia
Biomechanical responses during a standardised load carriage task are sex-specific Jodie Wills Australia
Sex-Specific Changes in Physical Performance Following Military Training Sophie Wardle United Kingdom
 
 
TS#29  |  Optimizing Soldier Performance through Better Clothing and Equipment Fit
Session Organizer Information: Mr. Allan Keefe, Defence Research and Development Canadaallan.keefe@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
STANDARD SESSION
Fit is essential to clothing/equipment specification, design, sizing, logistics and ensuring optimal levels of protection. Additionally, fit is a key component in determining the acceptability of a system. Poor fit of clothing and individual equipment can cause discomfort for the wearer, affect mobility, increase cognitive burden and add additional weight and bulk to the system that the user has to fight. Given that soldier’s performance and well-being is essential, clothing and equipment systems need to be designed and assessed to determine that they meet all of the soldier’s needs. A diverse military population leads to many challenges in fitting the range of body sizes, shapes, sex, and age groups it contains. This can be addressed by the development a proper fit and sizing scheme which not only ensures properly designed clothing and equipment, it also leads to an efficient logistics system that ensures adequate tariffs and stock availability, while balancing costs and storage. The presentations in this session will focus on individual clothing or equipment systems and the effect of fit of those systems on warfighter performance.
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
The effect of oversized (ill-fitting) body armour systems on musculoskeletal pain and discomfort, mobility and operational performance among female soldiers Celeste Coltman Australia
Analysis of Recent US Marine Corps Infantry Helmet Fit-Test Data to Improve Best-Fit Helmet Size Prediction Brian Corner United States
Cognitive Fit of Exosystems for the Human Operator Leia Stirling United States
Cold Weather Clothing Encumbered Anthropometry and Range of Motion Todd N Garlie United States
NATO Research Task Group: 3D Scanning for Clothing Fit and Logistics Allan Keefe Canada
Prediction of Combat Uniform Size from 3D Body Scan Data Helen Kilding New Zealand
Virtual Fit Testing Using Soft Tissue Simulation Dinesh Pai Canada
Static and Dynamic Fit of Exosystems for the Human Operator Monica Jones United States
 
 
TS#30  |  Feeding Female Soldiers
Session Organizer Information: Sophie Arana (née Wardle) PhD . Senior Scientific Officer, Physiology, Army Personnel Research Capability, UKsophie.arana104@mod.gov.uk
PANEL SESSION
Our proposed session on ‘Feeding Female Soldiers’ will exploit the UK Armed Forces campaign to better TrainHER© and to improve the feeding / nutrition of soldiers to optimise musculoskeletal health and physical performance. We aim to highlight the evidence base surrounding feeding for bone health, muscle mass / function, reproductive health, and during energy deficit, with the overall goal of improving female soldier health and performance. The session will conclude with a point-counterpoint panel discussion with audience input, debating the question of whether men and women should be fed differently. Direct research addressing this question is limited, but the increase in sex differences studies and the increased attention being afforded to female physiology will facilitate this panel discussion. Ultimately, the end-goal for militaries is attaining a whole force that is healthy, functional and effective in combat, and sex-specific strategies may be required to achieve this goal. We, therefore, propose a thematic session on ‘Feeding Female Soldiers’ with the following titles and speakers:
 
ABSTRACT TITLE FIRST AUTHOR COUNTRY OF
FIRST AUTHOR
Feeding female soldiers to optimise bone health and physical performance James McClung United States
Feeding female soldiers during energy deficit Lee Margolis United States
Energy Availability of Officer Cadets during British Army Training Victoria  Edwards United Kingdom
Feeding Female Soldiers to Optimise Muscle Mass and Function Sophie Wardle United Kingdom
Relative Energy Deficiency in Soldiers: A Perspective on Low Energy Availability in the Military Julie Greeves United Kingdom



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