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Norwegian NRF soldiers acceptance of Allied nations ’ field rations during a military exercise

Norwegian NRF soldiers acceptance of Allied nations ’ field rations during a military exercise. Masters thesis Pål H. Stenberg Akershus University College, Norway. Background. NATO ’ s request for a common field ration (or specifications – STANAG 2937) to satisfy:

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Norwegian NRF soldiers acceptance of Allied nations ’ field rations during a military exercise

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  1. Norwegian NRF soldiers acceptance of Allied nations’ field rations during a military exercise Masters thesis Pål H. Stenberg Akershus University College, Norway

  2. Background • NATO’s request for a common field ration (or specifications – STANAG 2937) to satisfy: • Sensory requirements (i.e. acceptability) • Interoperability • Nutritional requirements

  3. Rations must meet all requirements over the full range of environments:1.Cold (e.g. border of Russia and Norway)

  4. 2.Hot Climates – e.g. Desert Storm, Iraq

  5. 3. Heat (summer), cold (winter) and altitude, e.g. Faryab, Afghanistan)

  6. Problem • To what extent do Norwegian NATO Response Force (NRF) soldiers accept Allied nations’ field rations during a military exercise? • Sensory/behavioural • Interoperability • Nutrition (how much do soldiers trust the nutritional adequacy of other nations’ rations?)

  7. Relevance • NATO HFM RTG 154 • Development of common standards for field rations • International operations • Menu fatigue causes weight loss, and local food choices increase the risk of food-related illness

  8. Common result of unwise local food choices

  9. Methods • Prospective cohort pilot study • Exploratory quantitative study with selection statistics used to show strength of differences between groups • 7 platoons, each provided with one of the seven available Allied field rations – USA, Great Britain, France, Slovenia, Canada, Germany, Norway

  10. Methods – Questionnaire and discards • Survey • Electronic questionnaire • QuestBack • Open question • Repeated in the closed questions (questionnaire) • Quantifying discarded rations • Did discards correspond with their answers in the questionnaire?

  11. Methods – labelling discards

  12. Methods – categorizing discards

  13. Methods – visually estimated amount of intake of each component (1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3)

  14. Methods – study location • Study conducted during a field exercise that took place in Norway (between Rena and Hamar) in late autumn 2009

  15. Methods – Effect size • Effect size and Cohen’s d with corresponding table over % non-overlap between two mean scores • Used in all constructs • Illustrates strength of difference between two mean scores (compared with highest ranked mean)

  16. The different rations

  17. GBR

  18. USA

  19. GER

  20. SVN

  21. FRA

  22. CAN

  23. NOR

  24. Resultscont.

  25. Results • Two nations’ rations were found acceptable as an alternative to Norwegian rations for Norwegian soldiers • Three nations’ rations were close to Likert’s neutral point (3/5) • One nation’s rations were found to be unacceptable

  26. Results cont’d • Acceptability reduced during the 8-day study • NRF requires 30 days of adequate acceptability

  27. Results cont’dTable 14: The construct SENSORIAL ACCEPTABILITY of the allied nations’ rations. Mean ranking of the construct is descending. The measurement of CCA (standardised items). Cohen’s d and % non-overlap is based on comparison with the highest mean (USA).

  28. Results cont’d Table 16: The construct INTEROPERABILITY of the allied nations’ rations. Mean ranking is descending. The measurement of CCA (standardised items), Cohen’s d and % non-overlap is based on comparison with the highest mean (SVN).

  29. Results cont’dTable 18: The construct NUTRITION and the respondents’ trust regarding nutritional aspects in allied nations' rations. Mean ranking is descending. The measurement of CCA (standardised items). Cohen’s d and % non-overlap is based on comparance with the highest mean (USA).

  30. Results – most accepted

  31. Results cont’dTable 19: ACCEPTABILITY, all variables (20 items) in the three sub constructs SENSORYACCEPTABILITY, INTEROPERABILITY and NUTRITION listed with” % agree”, mean ± S.D., CCA, Cohen’s d and % non overlap (compared with highest mean; rations from USA).

  32. Conclusions and implications • If NATO in the future will provide a multinational force (as NRF), further research should include: • Acceptance measured 2 – 4 weeks • Menu fatigue, see table 41

  33. Questions… • pastenberg@mil.no

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