ANSUR II survey under way at McCoy to help develop clothing, equipment database

Raleigh Worth measures the calf of Sgt. 1st Class Jim Wagner during an anthropometric survey being conducted at Fort McCoy. (Photo by Tom Michele)

The ANSUR II project, endorsed and directed by Headquarters, Department of the Army, ultimately will measure 13,000 Soldiers. The collection of Soldier body measurements representing the different body sizes and shapes present in today’s Total Army will result in a database that will be used to improve the design and fit of clothing and individual equipment systems as well as work stations and crew stations used by Soldiers in the near future.

Data collection for the ANSUR II survey began in October 2010 at Fort Hood, Texas, where the highly-trained measuring team gathered standardized body measurements and three-dimensional (3-D) surface scans from hundreds of male and female Soldiers across 57 units. These measurements will be used for a wide range of engineering-related applications.

The ANSUR II team just completed its efforts at Fort Drum, N.Y., before coming to Fort McCoy. “The support to this important Army effort from Forts Hood, Bliss, Drum and Camp Atterbury has been truly outstanding,” said Cynthia Blackwell, ANSUR II Project Leader. “Just as importantly, the commitment of the leaders and Soldiers of Fort McCoy is crucial to this essential Army survey. We look forward to continuing our work with the Fort McCoy community during the coming weeks.” Additional installations on the ANSUR II schedule during the next 10 months include other U.S. Army Forces Command, Training and Doctrine Command and First Army Mobilization and Deployment sites.

The NSRDEC ANSUR II team, including a research anthropologist, military personnel, and civilian contractors, will visit selected locations across the United States. Selected Army units that represent occupational cross-sections of the Army will be screened and individuals will be selected in accordance with a stratified random sampling approach by age, sex and race. They will then be measured and scanned for the ANSUR II database.

Specifically, the measuring team will gather biographical data, 94 traditional body measurements and 3-D surface scans of the whole body, head/face and foot on each participant. The standardized body measurements will include some familiar clothing measurements such as chest and waist circumferences, body breadths and depths, as well as some very specialized dimensions like functional leg lengths. These leg lengths are used to design cockpits and crew stations for combat vehicles, aircraft and other human system platforms.

A 3-D whole body scanner will be used to capture body contours and curvatures to help in designing close-fitting items such as body armor. A 3-D head and face scanner will be used to capture the shapes and curvatures needed for designing helmets, goggles, face, and respiratory protection. Finally, a foot scanner will be used to capture foot size and shape for footwear design.

Army clothing, protective equipment, combat vehicles, aircraft, and weapon systems must be designed and sized to fit their users based on statistical data collected from a representative sample of the force.

The last ANSUR data collection occurred in 1988.

During the past 20-plus years, the Army noticed changes in the body sizes and types of its Soldiers, requiring an update of the original survey.

The 2012 ANSUR II anthropometric database will be used to establish design and sizing requirements, engineering solutions, digital models for vehicular crew stations, portable shelters and workstations, protective clothing and individual life-support equipment, and military uniforms.

“This study is absolutely crucial not only to the design of Soldiers’ uniforms and protective equipment, but also to the design of future combat vehicles. ANSUR II is the most comprehensive anthropometric data set to ever be collected by the Army, and we truly appreciate the support from all levels of the Army’s leadership,” said Dr. Claire Gordon, NSRDEC senior research scientist in biological anthropology.

For more information visit the website http://nsrdec.natick.army.mil/ANSURII/.