Page 109 - JSOM Fall 2025

across units, since job performance across all airframes bene- choreography, and those teams served as a cornerstone of sup-
fits from appropriate fueling and hydration as well as strategic port, camaraderie, knowledge, and connection to the career
caffeine use to maintain alertness. Critical tasks that are sim- field overall. Across the various sites, commitment to crew in-
ilar across all of the airframes have job requirements that are tegrity fluctuated for a number of different reasons. Regardless
similar across all airframes. This is likely to be the case across of the reasons, a lack of crew integrity had negative impacts on
SOF 2W1s as well, with heavy lifting, standing and squatting, the social, psychological, and (at times) spiritual fitness for the
and navigating in and out of tight spaces around the aircraft members of those teams. Having to work with unfamiliar peo-
all being part of the job, and all resulting in similar health and ple often led to increased stress and frustration, particularly if
performance concerns. an experienced team member had to mentor more than one
inexperienced member at a time. It also contributed to uneven
It is important to acknowledge that while factors from the distribution of workload, which can have negative impacts on
physical, ergonomic, and nutritional realms might be consistent team morale. Inconsistent crew integrity or being separated
across units, the degree to which they may influence perfor- from a crew due to injury can also lead to feelings of discon-
mance can differ from unit to unit, as well as from conventional nection from the team, from the community, and from the mis-
forces to SOF. In the context of 2W1s, the types and amounts sion. These feeling could also have a number of downstream
of munitions loaded vary across aircraft and, therefore, the de- effects on the social and spiritual fitness of those members.
gree of physical burden placed on a 2W1 varies depending on
the specific aircraft an individual is assigned to. This is appar- A third example of context-based findings centers on the cul-
ent from our findings, which show that while the back and ture or climate of a worksite and the ways it is shaped by
knee were the most common locations of pain regardless of leadership, established practice, and shifting personnel. Just as
unit, the percentage of 2W1s self-reporting back or knee pain stress can be added to the job when a workplace feels inimical
was lower in units with aircraft that hold fewer munitions. Sim- or when expectations are perceived to be inconsistent or un-
ilarly, while proper hydration is necessary for proper job per- clear, knowing what to expect and feeling valued or connected
formance, the need is greater in high-heat environments. can reduce the psychological or social stress that an individual
might feel. Reduction of perceived conflict between shifts or
teams or between loaders and the backshop, and having lead-
Context-Dependent Findings
ers develop strong mentor relationships with their teams, are
While some aspects of a career field’s health and performance ways to mitigate these stressors. Developing organic means of
demands remain relatively consistent from one location to building a shared culture of connectivity is another. One exam-
another, other aspects of these identified critical tasks are en- ple we heard about were weekly shift potlucks. Another was
tirely context dependent. For instance, loading heavy muni- a wing-level weapons-loader competition, where squadrons
tions onto an aircraft may require a similar set of physical competed against each other for recognition.
performance demands across multiple airframes and at multi-
ple installations. But what about the psychological demands? A fourth and final area in which context matters is in mis-
Or the social or spiritual demands? Do these also remain con- sion intensity and operational tempo. Two members of the
stant across airframes and at different air bases? Do mission Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP)
requirements or operations tempo play a role? Data gathered team have previous research experience with communities
across three blueprints on three different airframes at three dif- from Air Force Special Operations Command, where the
ferent installations suggest there are some notable differences. shortening cycles of deployment and redeployment increased
operational tempo and being deployed in place all result in
One aspect of 2W1 career-field health and performance de- higher-than-normal levels of stress and increased psychologi-
mands that is context dependent is geographical location. Lo- cal, spiritual, and social strain.
cation can play a significant role in the psychological demands
of a given critical task as well as the physical ones. Loading Discussion
weapons in Idaho in the winter and loading weapons in Ari-
zona in the summer present unique challenges. Extreme cold The findings across three capability-based blueprints articulate
and extreme heat are physically hard on one’s body, increas- the link between a career field’s requirements, working envi-
ing the physical demands of a task, but they also exact a psy- ronments, missions, and the constellation of health and perfor-
chological toll, requiring mental focus regardless of physical mance issues/considerations that those career-field members
discomfort. Focusing on tasks that require physical dexterity experience. Gaining an understanding of a career field’s crit-
when one’s fingertips are freezing cold is one example of this. ical tasks and the ensuing health and performance priorities
Additionally, geographic location can lead to feelings of iso- at one installation can provide some transferable knowledge
lation and the associated feelings of depression that being in for health and performance assets who work with those same
remote areas can impart. The geographic location of an instal- career fields at other installations. For example, certain kinds
lation, and its surrounding area, can impact feelings of social of physical injuries can be anticipated, and preemptive mitiga-
isolation, seasonal affectiveness, and depression. tion strategies can be used to reduce the likelihood or sever-
ity of those task-related injuries. CBB also highlights the need
Load crews often work in three-person teams, with each mem- for continual learning and how some considerations, such as
ber of the team occupying a unique role based on experience team dynamics and organizational climate, will likely be site-
and skill. Crew integrity, or consistently having the same peo- and time-specific and, therefore, have to be explored at each
ple in the same roles on a load crew, was one key to success site respectively. While not explored specifically in the three
at exceeding task proficiency and provided a number of so- blueprints performed, continual learning and context-specific
cial and spiritual protective factors. When working together considerations are important when generalizing conclusions
consistently, load crews developed their own rhythms and between conventional forces and SOF. While some issues and

Scaling Community-Based Health and Performance Needs Assessments | 107