Cohort profile: a migratory cohort study of US Marines who train in Australia

PurposeIn 2012, US Marines and Sailors began annual deployments to Australia to participate in joint training exercises with the Australian Defence Force and other partners in the region. During their training, US service members are exposed to a variety of infectious disease threats not normally encountered by American citizens. This paper describes a cohort of US Marines and Sailors enrolled during five rotations to Australia between 2016 and 2020.ParticipantsStudy participation is strictly voluntary. Group informational sessions are held prior to deployment to describe the study structure and goals, as well as the infectious disease threats that participants may encounter while in Australia. All participants provided written informed consent. Consented participants complete a pre-deployment questionnaire to collect data including basic demographic information, military occupational specialty, travel history, family history, basic health status and personal habits such as alcohol consumption. Blood is collected for serum, plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) processing. Data and specimen collection is repeated up to three times: before, during and after deployment.Findings to dateFrom the five rotations that comprised the 2016–2020 Marine Rotational Force-Darwin, we enrolled 1289 volunteers. Enrolments during this period were overwhelmingly white male under the age of 24 years. Most of the enrollees were junior enlisted and non-commissioned officers, with a smaller number of staff non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers, and minimal warrant officers. Over half of the enrollees had occupational specialty designations for infantry.Future plansIn the future, we will screen samples for serological evidence of infection with Burkholderia pseudomallei, Coxiella burnetii, Ross River virus, SARS-CoV-2 and other operationally relevant pathogens endemic in Australia. Antigenic stimulation assays will be performed on PBMCs collected from seropositive individuals to characterise the immune response to these infections in this healthy American population.

Corporate culture of Siberian warrant officers training schools during First World War

This article is an attempt to reconstruct the elements of the corporate culture of the schools for training warrant officers in Siberia (Omsk, Irkutsk) during the First World War. Any corporate culture is the foundation of society. The absence of this foundation is one of the reasons for the atomization of society — social disunity, which is expressed in a significant decrease in trust between people, the loss of the skills of collective problem solving and collective interaction. From this point of view, corporate culture is a means of stabilizing society. Therefore, it is necessary to study the positive and negative aspects of corporate culture. The materials of the 1st Kazan and Vladikavkaz (2nd Tiflis) schools for the training of infantry warrant officers are used in the work. As a result of the study, it is found that the corporate culture of the schools for the training of warrant officers in Siberia (Omsk, Irkutsk) included such elements as school holidays, school graduation badges, instructions and historical memos for students, norms of etiquette, etc.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL FACTORS IN THE VERIFICATIONA AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS OF PHYSICAL TRAINING IN ARMED FORCES OF ARMENIA

A set of sociological surveys have been conducted in order to assess the social impact in the process of developing Physical Training Assessment System of the RA Armed Forces, servicemen engagement in and attitude towards physical training. For we consider it important to obtain reliable information, servicemen of different ages, genders, professions, categories serving in different climatic conditions, military units and locations were interviewed. A separate analysis was carried out for different categories (private soldiers, warrant officers, ordnance officers) of servicemen with different status (conscripts, contract soldiers). Over time, by re-equipping and reorganizing the armed forces, approaches to physical training are changing. Thus for introducing modern and more efficient assessment and inspection methods, it is necessary to analyze the requirements of active military personnel serving in combat duty zones and to determine their performance level of mobility tasks in a combat area. The social conditions of servicemen may also be taken into account during the development of assessment system.

Collective portrait of head of Omsk school for training infantry warrant officers

In the article, on the basis of the prosopographic method, the collective portrait of the head of Omsk schools for the training of infantry warrant officers is reconstructed. The study is based on army clerical records from the Russian State Military Historical Archive and the Historical Archive of the Omsk Region. As a result of the study, it is found that the head of Omsk school for training infantry warrant officers, as a rule, is a nobleman, of the Orthodox faith, a combat officer with the rank of staff captain to lieutenant general, who has experience of direct participation in hostilities

Effects of hypertensive heart disease on the quality of life of military personnel under the conditions of the Far north

Aim: To assess the relationship between the presence of hypertension and the quality of life of contracted military personnel in the Far North, as well as to establish a correlation between the military rank and body mass index.Materials and methods. A medical and sociological study was conducted using a questionnaire survey of 613 military personnel serving on a contract basis in the Far North. The main research tool was a short version of the World Health Organization questionnaire developed for estimating the subjective quality of life. Additionally, questions were asked regarding the health status, as well as the conditions of service and life of military personnel.Results. A positive answer to the question about the presence of a hypertension diagnosis was given by 52 (8.5%) of the respondents. 135 (22%) of the respondents confirmed episodes of increased blood pressure. According to the scale, the quality of life of the military personnel with hypertension comprised 94 points (95% CI: 90.25–97.75), whereas this value equaled 95.33 points (95% CI: 93.10–97.57) and 99.99 points (95% CI: 98.91–101.06) for people experiencing episodes of increased blood pressure and for healthy individuals, respectively. A statistically significant difference in the general assessment of the quality of life was noted between the group of healthy individuals and the group of the personnel suffering from hypertension (U = 10861, p ˂ 0.01), as well as from the group of healthy individuals and people experiencing episodes of increased blood pressure (U = 17185, p ˂ 0.05). In terms of the military rank, statistically significant differences were noted in the hypertension group — between unranked military personnel and warrant officers (U = 78.5, p ˂ 0.05), and in the group experiencing episodes of increased blood pressure — unranked military personnel and warrant officers (U = 587.5, p ˂ 0.05) and warrant officers and junior officers (U = 620, p ˂ 0.05). Spearman correlation criterion values were obtained for the relationship between the body mass index and both hypertension (rs = –0.212, p ˂ 0.001) and high blood pressure (rs = –0.231, p ˂ 0.001).Conclusion. The obtained data confirm the negative impact of conditions associated with increased blood pressure on such aspects as the physical and mental well-being, self-perception, self-assessment of the quality of life and the state of health, general assessment of the quality of life. A correlation between the overall quality of life, the body mass index and the military rank of military personnel was established.

CASES OF MORBIDITY WITH WORK DAYS LOST AMONG EMPLOYEES OF THE EMERCOM OF RUSSIA AND THE WORKING POPULATION IN RUSSIA

Relevance. Activities in extreme conditions likely involve stress on functional reserves and impaired health. Intention. Calculate the medical and statistical indicators of cases of morbidity with work days lost among employees of the EMERCOM of Russia and compare the above indicators with the working population in Russia in 2010–2015.Methodology. We analyzed cases of morbidity with temporary disability in employees of the EMERCOM of Russia units according to the automated database of the All-Russian Order of the Badge of Honor Research Institute for Fire Protection, EMERCOM of Russia, over 2010–2015 in about 80% of all employees who had special military ranks: senior commanding officers (officers, warrant officers), junior commanding officers (sergeants) and rank and file. The indicators are calculated per 1000 employees or in ‰. Cases of morbidity correlated with the International Classification of Diseases and Behavioral Disorders of the 10th Revision (ICD-10). Cases of temporary disability of workers in Russia was obtained from the database of the Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System of Russia.Results and analysis. The average annual level of morbidity cases with work days lost among the personnel of the EMERCOM of Russia was (374.2 ± 9.6) ‰, including (345.2 ± 9.1) among the employees of the Federal Fire Service, (361.4 ± 28.3) ‰ in the Main Inspectorate for Small Boats, (339.3 ± 20.5) ‰ in the Search and Rescue Units, and (867.6 ± 97.6) ‰ in the Rescue Military Units. In the structure of cases of work days lost in the EMERCOM of Russia, the shares of employees of the divisions were distributed as follows: 81.5, 2.8, 2.1 and 13.6 %, respectively. The leading classes of diseases among the personnel of the EMERCOM of Russia were: respiratory diseases (Chapter X) with morbidity rate (167.7 ± 8.2) ‰ and 44.7% in the structure; injuries, poisoning and some other consequences of external causes (Chapter XIX) (41.8 ± 1.4) ‰ and 11.2 %; diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (Chapter XIII) – (34.7 ± 1.2) ‰ and 9.3%; circulatory system diseases (Chapter IX) – (25.2 ± 1.6) ‰ and 6.7%; and some infectious and parasitic diseases (Chapter I) – (21.9 ± 2.9) ‰ and 5.9 %. For workers in Russia, the average annual level of morbidity cases with work days lost 1.4 times as high: (522.5 ± 28.1) ‰ (p < 0.01). The consistency of the indicators is high, negative, and approaches statistical significance (r = –0.75; p < 0.1), which may indicate the influence of multidirectional factors in the formation of cases of work days lost among the EMERCOM of Russia employees and working population in Russia. Trends over time, structure and morbidity rates for cases with work days lost among employees of the EMERCOM of Russia divisions are presented.Conclusion. Accounting for morbidity indicators with work days lost can contribute to a more rational allocation of resources during the operational activities of the EMERCOM of Russia.

Negative Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption Behaviors in an Australian Army Combat Brigade

Introduction Western militaries have consumption rates of alcohol and tobacco which are higher than the associated civilian populations, and are concerned about the negative effects on health, wellbeing, and military performance that such high rates may have. Materials and Methods A survey questionnaire which collected nonidentifiable data was distributed to all accessible members of an Australian Army Combat Brigade over the annual induction training and prefield exercise period between January and March 2019. The survey was composed of personal and demographic questions, followed by questions concerning the personal consumption habits of alcohol and tobacco. 1,606 complete and valid surveys were returned, representing 55.3% of the Brigade’s posted strength. Ethical clearance for this project was provided by the Australian Defence Force Joint Health Command Low Risk Ethics Panel (18-012). Results Almost one quarter of the Combat Brigade exceeded the Australian daily risk guideline for alcohol consumption, and over three quarters exceeded the occasion risk guideline; with 6.1% of soldiers drinking alcohol daily. 24.3% identified as tobacco smokers, with 15.9% smoking daily. Smoking rates and volumes were higher when deployed on field training exercises and on international training and operational deployments; as was the consumption of roll-your-own cigarettes. Overall, the main determinants of the negative consumption behaviors were gender (male) and age (under 25). Conclusions This study confirmed that the members of an Australian Army Combat Brigade have higher negative health consumption behaviors concerning alcohol and tobacco than the general civilian population. The results also identified a cohort of Senior Non-Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers (E5–E9) between the ages of 35 and 44 who had high negative consumption behaviors which could result in poor health outcomes. This could be a suitable cohort for a targeted campaign to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption and to assist to make healthy life changes.

Particular skills: warrant officers in the Royal Navy, 1775–1815

Historians of the Royal Navy in the age of sail have focused their attention on two groups of men: the commissioned officers and the lower deck. Few have bothered to study the men in the middle: the warrant officers, whose particular skills were necessary on board. Masters, pursers, chaplains, and surgeons—the warrant officers of wardroom rank—straddled the civilian and military worlds. They therefore provide a unique window into both the Royal Navy’s command structure and the continuing significance and evolution of social status boundaries in Georgian Britain. This paper focuses on warrant officers during the half-decade following the battle of Trafalgar, when British manpower resources were stretched thinly and exhausted from more than a decade of operations. Between 1805 and 1808, the Admiralty enacted a series of reforms designed to alleviate some of these problems. To make a career as a warrant officer more attractive, the reforms granted surgeons uniforms, increased surgeons’, pursers’, and masters’ pay, and gave all of them a larger share of the prize money spoils. The reforms acknowledged, both implicitly and explicitly, that warrant officers sat uncomfortably in the naval hierarchy. They were crucial to the Navy’s operations, but they lacked the social prestige and promotion prospects of commissioned officers. The reforms suggest that naval administrators were finally beginning to recognize the significance and social standing of warrant officers.