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PTSs are measures of job performance

• PTSs can be useful measures of job performance when job tasks are difficult to observe, as is the case with many BA tasks on operational missions. Because they simulate job tasks, stakeholders, such as job incumbents, generally view work simulations as job-relevant.

Five principles emerged for PTS development

• Our research identified five important principles for developing PTSs: develop PTSs where effective performance is influenced by physical ability; develop PTSs that are representative of tasks, abilities, and mission types; standardize PTSs to the extent possible; to the extent possible, have PTSs reflect how tasks are performed in actual mission environments; and design reliable and accurate measurement of PTS performance.
• For PTS assessments to be reliable and accurate, different performance levels of participants need to be detectable.
• Setting PTS times too fast may subsequently result in setting the predictive physical test scores too high. On the other hand, setting PTS cutoff times too slow may subsequently result in increased operational risks because of insufficient physical readiness.

In January 2013, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense rescinded the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule and mandated that "[v]alidated gender-neutral occupational standards will be used to assess and assign Service members not later than September 2015." In support of this mandate, the U.S. Air Force asked RAND to assist its development and validation of gender-neutral tests and standards for six battlefield airmen (BA) specialties, which were the only occupational specialties that remained closed to women in the Air Force at the time of the study (now open to women). This report describes RAND's assistance to the Air Force on two fronts: (1) designing physical task simulations (PTSs) to measure the occupationally relevant physical requirements for BA specialties and (2) setting standards for BA physical performance on the PTSs. This research will provide the foundation for Air Force performance measures and tests that meet scientific, technical, and best practice standards.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Principles for Developing Physical Task Simulations

• Chapter Three

  Developing Physical Task Simulations

• Chapter Four

  Support to Pilot Testing and Validation

• Chapter Five

  Setting Standards for BA Physical Performance

• Chapter Six

  Conclusions

• Appendix A

  Descriptions of Battlefield Airmen Specialties

• Appendix B

  Descriptions of Physical Task Simulations

• Appendix C

  Administrator Checklists

• Appendix D

  Score Sheets and Feedback Forms