Caffeine and energy drink use by combat arms soldiers in Afghanistan as a countermeasure for sleep loss and high operational demands.

Objectives: Combat deployments are characterized by high operational demands with limited opportunities for sleep leading to fatigue and degraded cognitive and operational performance. Caffeine in moderate doses is recognized as an effective intervention for physical and cognitive decrements associated with sleep loss.

Methods: This report is based on data collected by two separate, independently conducted surveys administered in Afghanistan in 2011-2012.

Effects of Combat Deployment on Anthropometrics and Physiological Status of U.S. Army Special Operations Forces Soldiers.

Introduction: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces (SOF) soldiers deploy frequently and conduct military operations through special warfare and surgical strike capabilities.

Adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Is Associated with Psychological Resilience in Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The 2010 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010), a measure of diet quality, is used to quantify adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Better HEI scores have been associated with positive health outcomes; however, the relationship between diet quality and psychological resilience, a mental health attribute for coping with adversity, has not been assessed.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to assess the relationship between diet quality and psychological resilience, and the relationship between resilience and demographics, anthropometrics, socioeconomic status, and health behavior.

Improved Mood State and Absence of Sex Differences in Response to the Stress of Army Basic Combat Training.

Background: It is reported that women are more susceptible to stress than men but they have not been compared in stressful, real-world, team-centered, occupational/training environments. This study investigated effects of Army Basic Combat Training (BCT), a structured military training program, on the mood of young adult men and women.

Methods: Using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire, 169 soldiers (98 men and 71 women) were assessed prior to starting BCT and after each phase of training.

Cognitive function, stress hormones, heart rate and nutritional status during simulated captivity in military survival training.

Stress influences numerous psychological and physiological processes, and its effects have practical implications in a variety of professions and real-world activities. However, few studies have concurrently assessed multiple behavioral, hormonal, nutritional and heart-rate responses of humans to acute, severe stress. This investigation simultaneously assessed cognitive, affective, hormonal, and heart-rate responses induced by an intensely stressful real-world environment designed to simulate wartime captivity.

Effects of basic combat training on iron status in male and female soldiers: a comparative study.

Objective: Iron is an essential micronutrient known to affect physical and cognitive performance. Studies indicate a significant reduction in iron status in female Soldiers immediately following military training, although the comparative effects of military training on iron status between male and female Soldiers have not been examined. The objective of this study was to compare the longitudinal effects of US Army basic combat training (BCT) on iron status indicators in a group of male and female Soldiers.

Positive effects of basic training on cognitive performance and mood of adult females.

Objective: This study investigated whether a stressful military training program, the 9- to 10-week U.S. Army basic combat training (BCT) course, alters the cognitive performance and mood of healthy young adult females.

Differential effects of military training on fat-free mass and plasma amino acid adaptations in men and women.

Fat-free mass (FFM) adaptations to physical training may differ between sexes based on disparities in fitness level, dietary intake, and levels of plasma amino acids (AA). This investigation aimed to determine FFM and plasma AA responses to military training, examine whether adaptations differ between male and female recruits, and explore potential associations between FFM and AA responses to training. Body composition and plasma AA levels were assessed in US Army recruits (n = 209, 118 males, 91 females) before (baseline) and every three weeks during basic combat training (BCT), a 10-week military training course.

Vitamin D status, dietary intake, and bone turnover in female Soldiers during military training: a longitudinal study.

Background: Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for maintaining bone health, to include protecting against stress fracture during periods of rapid bone turnover. The objective of this longitudinal, observational study was to assess vitamin D status, biomarkers of bone turnover, and vitamin D and calcium intake in female Soldiers (n = 91) during US Army basic combat training (BCT).

Methods: Anthropometric, biological and dietary intake data were collected at wk 0, 3, 6, and 9 of the 10 wk BCT course.

Cardiometabolic risk in US Army recruits and the effects of basic combat training.

Background: Cardiometabolic disease risk in US military recruits and the effects of military training have not been determined. This study examined lifestyle factors and biomarkers associated with cardiometabolic risk in US Army recruits (209; 118 male, 91 female, 23 ± 5 yr) before, during, and after basic combat training (BCT).

Methodology/principal Findings: Anthropometrics; fasting total (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol; triglycerides (TG); glucose; and insulin were measured at baseline and every 3 wks during the 10 wk BCT course.

Risk factors for medical discharge from United States Army Basic Combat Training.

Past studies indicated that overall Basic Combat Training (BCT) attrition (discharge) was associated with various risk factors. BCT has changed considerably since many of these studies were conducted. This study examined Soldiers medically attrited from BCT.

Vitamin D status in female military personnel during combat training.

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for maintaining bone health. Recent data suggest that vitamin D and calcium supplementation might affect stress fracture incidence in military personnel. Although stress fracture is a health risk for military personnel during training, no study has investigated changes in vitamin D status in Soldiers during United States (US) Army basic combat training (BCT).

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of an iron-fortified food product in female soldiers during military training: relations between iron status, serum hepcidin, and inflammation.

Background: Iron status degrades in female soldiers during military training. Inflammation-mediated up-regulation of hepcidin, a key mediator of iron homeostasis, may be a contributing factor.

Objective: We measured the efficacy of an iron-fortified food product for maintaining iron status in female soldiers during basic combat training (BCT) and examined relations between iron status, serum hepcidin concentrations, and inflammation.

Poor iron status is not associated with overweight or overfat in non-obese pre-menopausal women.

Background: Associations between obesity and poor iron status have been described in children and adults. Proposed mechanisms for this association implicate a physiologic etiology, suggesting body fat accretion may progressively degrade iron status. However, the relationship between iron status and body composition in non-obese adults remains unclear.

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of iron supplementation in female soldiers during military training: effects on iron status, physical performance, and mood.

Background: Decrements in iron status have been reported in female soldiers during military training. Diminished iron status adversely affects physical and cognitive performance.

Objective: We wanted to determine whether iron supplementation could prevent decrements in iron status and improve measures of physical performance and cognitive status in female soldiers during basic combat training (BCT).

Injury reduction effectiveness of selecting running shoes based on plantar shape.

Popular running magazines and running shoe companies suggest that imprints of the bottom of the feet (plantar shape) can be used as an indication of the height of the medial longitudinal foot arch and that this can be used to select individually appropriate types of running shoes. This study examined whether or not this selection technique influenced injury risk during United States Army Basic Combat Training (BCT). After foot examinations, BCT recruits in an experimental group (E: n = 1,079 men and 451 women) selected motion control, stability, or cushioned shoes for plantar shapes judged to represent low, medium, or high foot arches, respectively.

Longitudinal decrements in iron status during military training in female soldiers.

Fe is an essential micronutrient required for optimal cognitive and physical performance. Cross-sectional studies indicate that training degrades Fe status in female military personnel; however, longitudinal studies to measure the direct impact of military training on Fe status and performance have not been conducted. As such, the objective of the present study was to determine the longitudinal effects of military training on Fe status in female soldiers.