This report is one of a series designed to support Air Force leaders in promoting resilience among Airmen, its civilian employees, and Air Force family members. The research sponsors requested that RAND assess the current resilience-related constructs and measures in the scientific literature and report any evidence of initiatives that promote resilience across a number of domains. We did not limit our search to research conducted in military settings or with military personnel, as Air Force leaders sought the potential opportunity to apply the results of these studies to a population that had not yet been addressed (i.e., Airmen). Further,...

Few would challenge the importance of physical fitness and conditioning. Physical fitness contributes to health, in both mind and body, positively affects job performance, and is recognized as an essential requirement for Air Force readiness. Indeed, the Commander’s Intent states:

Being physically fit allows you to properly support the Air Force mission. The goal of the Fitness Program … is to motivate all members to participate in a year-round physical conditioning program that emphasizes total fitness, to include proper aerobic conditioning, strength/flexibility training, and healthy eating. Health benefits from an active lifestyle will increase productivity, optimize health, and decrease absenteeism...

The promotion of physical activity has been explored from a number of perspectives. Consequently, several meta-analyses and reviews have been conducted examining a variety of interventions to promote physical activity. In fact, these reviews prompted the Health Development Agency in the United Kingdom to conduct an evidence briefing, a review of reviews, of public health interventions (Hillsdon, 2004). Varying levels of support were found for the different interventions, leading to three broad conclusions. First, brief interventions from health care professionals were found to generally result in short-term change in physical activity levels for those individuals who were previously sedentary. Second,...

This report has focused on the physical fitness domain of the Total Force Fitness construct. Physical fitness constructs can relate to either the ability to perform demanding physical tasks (performance-related fitness) or the promotion of general health and well-being (health-related fitness). Because of a recent shift in both research and policy, this chapter focused on health-related physical fitness. Specifically, it makes a distinction between physicalfitnessand physicalactivity. Physical fitness is a reflection of physical ability, whereas physical activity is characterized by biological, metabolic, and physical properties. Physical activity is viewed as a process.

Physical activity has many direct...