U. S. ARMY t •-

Technical Note 14-72

EVALUATION OF RIFLE-FIRING BEHAVIOR OF TROOPS

EQUIPPED WITH BODY ARMOR: A PILOT STUDY

Bernard M. CoronaPaul H. Ellis

R. Douglas JonesR. Bradley RandallHayden A. Scheetz

Best Available Copy

September 1972

HUMAN ENGINEERING LABORATORY

A ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MARYLAND

Approved for public release;

distribution unlimited.

Root o0 o515%L

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I i I I'

Technical Note 14-72

EVALUATION OF RIFLE-FIRING BEHAVIOR OF TROOPS

EQUIPPED WITH BODY ARMOR: A PILOT STUDY

Bernard M. CoronaPaul H. Ellis

R. Douglas JonesSR. Bradley RandallHayden A. Scheetz

September 1972

APPROVE:J HN D. WEISZ

* DirectorU. S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory

U. S. ARMY HUMAN ENGINEERING LABORATORYAberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

Approved for public release;

distribution unlimited.

ABSTRACT

Twenty enlisted men, equipped with two types of body armor fired the M16 at pop-uptargets. The range was electronically instrumented to record shots and hits, as well asrelationships between these events. Each subject fired 180 rounds at targets which appeared fortwo, four and six-second presentation intervals. The results showed no significant differencebetween standard nylon vest, nylon titanium vest or no-vest conditions as subjects fired from thestanding position. Further, it was evident that the shooter's performance during two-secondpresentations differed significantly from performance during four and six-second exposures. Itwas concluded that body armor alone does not affect rifle-firing behavior for either accuracy orfiring time, that subsequent investigations need not include four or six second presentation times,and that further research on rifle-firing behavior should explore complete equipment ensembles,including load-carrying gear.

III

EVALUATION OF RIFLE-FIRING BEHAVIOR OF TROOPS

EQUIPPED WITH BODY ARMOR: A PILOT STUDY

INTRODUCTION

The experiment described in this report is one of a number of current and projectedinvestigations aimed at developing comprehensive criteria for the evaluation of life-supportsystems. As a participant in the U. S. Army Materiel Command (USAMC) Five-Year TechnicalPlan for Personnel Protective Systems, the primary responsibility of the U. S. Army HumanEngineering Laboratory (HEL) is to provide a battery of standardized tests applicable to existingand prototype armor ensembles. The overall experimental approach shown in Figure 1 indicatesthat the standardized tests will ultimately be based on laboratory experiments and field studies,objective and subjective measures, and individual and group performances.

The infantryman and his rifle form a weapon system which must be an efficientcombination of components on the battlefield. This weapons systems is neutralized if either thesoldier or his rifle does not respond effectively in a crucial situation. As in any system,restrictions on any one component may influence total system effectiveness. Hence, any piece ofequipment which may restrict the soldier in the act of firing his rifle may in fact interfere withsystem performance.

The USAMC Five-Year Armor Systems Technical Plan (1970) describes the requirement toinvestigate the infantryman's performance as a weapons system, while equipped with bodyarmor. This requirement is based on two anticipated effects of the man/equipment interface: theindividual's ability to hit the target while equipped with body armor; and, the effect of armor onhis time to fire.

Accuracy of firing could be affected in many ways by existing body armor. Because of thebulky qualities of some ballistics materials, the shooter may not be able to "get the feel of theweapon" as he shoulders the rifle. Therefore, he may not shoulder the rifle at the same place foreach shot. There may also be restriction of movement at the shoulder and at the arm pit as theshooter assumes the firing position. Further, the collar of the vest may interfer with "cheeking"the rifle and thus alter the sight picture. Finally, the added weight of the body armor couldinterfere in general with psychomotor performance and adversely affect aiming behavior.

Time to fire may be affected even more by body armor. If the soldier can hit the target, butrequires more time to do so, it is possible that the delay could cause the shooter to become acasualty before he can fire. Since present armored vests are not "bullet proof," any addedexposure to small-arms fire would increase the vulnerability of the soldier to the enemy rifleman.This added vulnerability is particularly important when the tactical concept of fire superiority isconsidered.

To evaluate the effect of present body armor on small-arms firing behavior, an investigationwas conducted to determine to what extent body armor affects the effective employment ofsmall arms by the soldier. In addition to hit-probability and time-to-fire data, a photographicrecord was made of several shooters to evaluate possible restricted movements and shooting form.

The overall purpose of this investigation was to determine the feasibility of using existingrange facilities to evaluate the effects of body armor on rifle-firing behavior.

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Subjects

Twenty U. S. Army enlisted men, grades E2 through E4, served as subjects. Each subjecthad received Army Basic Training and had qualified with the M16 rifle.

Apparatus

The experiment was conducted at M-Range, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Five pop-uptargets, electronically wired to record hits (Fig. 2) were situated in a 60-degree arc, 30 metersfrom a fixed firing point. A microphone, located near the firing point, provided a signal whenimpulse noise from the report of a rifle reached a level of 140 dB. A target controller locatedapproximately 25 meters from the firing point was the center of the instrumentation system. Atarget-controller operator selected and initiated each target presentation by manually operatingthe appropriate target switch. Since the target presentation time was automatically controlled,only the inter-trial interval was dependent on a stopwatch manually controlled by the operator.This interval was held at 10 hundredths of a minute between each trial.

An event recorder received and recorded presentation onset, time of firing, time of hit, andpresentation end.

The following sequence of events occurred on each test:

1. Operator selects one of five targets by pressing appropriate button.

2. Operator depresses target-presentation switch.

3. Event recorder runs.

4. Target appears.

5. Event record provides a target trace.

6. Event recorder records shot.

7. Operator starts stopwatch.

8. If hit, recorder marks, and the target goes down; if not hit, target goes down atpresentation-time end. Event recorder stops.

9. Operator selects next target.

10. Operator monitors stopwatch.

11. At 10 hundredths of a minute, operator initiates the next target presentation.

12. The procedure is repeated for the appropriate number of shots.

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41

Procedure

Each subject was required to fire three conditions of 60 rounds each, one for each of threedifferent armor vest conditions (i.e., standard nylon, nylon titanium vest and no vesti.The orderof firing for the three conditions was randomized to distribute any learning effects orenvironmental conditions across treatments. Additionally, subjects did not fire the threeconditions consecutively nor was the period between each condition constant because of a highincidence of equipment malfunction - typically the firing for each subject was distributed acrosstwo days.

Within each vest condition, every subject fired 20 rounds at targets with two-secondpresentation times, 20 rounds at four-second targets and 20 rounds at six-second targets. Sincefive targets were used, each target was presented four times during each two, four and six-secondcondition. The order of target presentation was 30 degrees left of center (Target 1), 30 degreesright of center (Target 2), 15 degrees left of center (Target 3), 15 degrees right of center (Target4) and dead center (Target 5). This presentation order was held constant across all time and vestconditions. The first five rounds of each target presentation condition were considered practicerounds and not included in the experimental data.

The following instructions were given to each subject after he had been fitted in theappropriate armor vest for a given vest condition:

"On my command you will pick up your weapon and assume a comfortable standingposition. Here is a 20 round magazine. Lock and load at my command. You are to fire one roundat each target. The target will be visible for (two, four or six) seconds. Be sure you get one roundand only one round off for each target. You must hold your weapon at port arms before eachshot. The targets will appear in this order. (The subject was shown where each target wouldappear). The cameras located here and here (front and side) should not concern you. Do youunderstand your instructions? Pick up your weapon and assume a comfortable standing position.Lock and load. Safety off. Are your ready? Fire when the targets appear."

RESULTS

Using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures across all variables, thetime-to-fire data were evaluated (Table 1). The analysis shows statistically significant interactionsbetween vests and shooter (F = 2.13 df 38/76, p <.01) and target time and shooters (F = 4.13,df 38/76, p < .01). Two significant main effects, target exposure time (F - 690.55, df 2/76, p <.005) and shooters (F = 3.9, df 19/76, p< .01), were found, while the third variable, vestconditions was non-significant.

5

TABLE 1

ANOVA Summary Table for Time-to-Fire Data

Source df SS MS F

Vest 2 .13 .06 1.56

Target Exp. Time 2 24.86 12.43 690.55*

Shooters 19 7.10 .37 3.90*

Vest x Tgt Time 4 .04 .01 .56

Vest x Shooters 38 1.46 .038 2.13*

Tgt Time x Shooters 38 2.83 .074 4.13*

p < .01

A one-way analysis of variance was performed on the hit-probability scores acrosspresentation times (Table 2). This analysis showed a significant presentation time effect (F =27.73, df 8, 152 p <.005). Duncan's multiple comparison technique was applied to the data. Theresults of this test revealed a significant difference between the two-second presentation time,and the remaining presentation times (four and six seconds). The four and six-second conditionsdid not differ significantly from each other.

The films of several shooters were evaluated qualitatively. While these results are not easilyreduced to quantitative scores, several interesting problem areas were identified. These areas willbe discussed in later sections of this report.

TABLE 2

ANOVA for Hit/Miss Data Across Presentation Times

Source df SS MS F

Total 179 15,098.977

Subjects 19 4,437.348

Time 8 6,327.531 790.941 27.73*

Error 152 4,334.098 28.513

p < .005

6

DISCUSSION

The results of this investigation suggest that the two armor-vest configurations tested do notdiffer significantly from a no-vest condition as far as time to fire and hit probability areconcerned. However, it should be pointed out that the vest is only one of many equipment itemsthe infantryman may carry. The interface of body armor with load-carrying gear and otherinfantry accouterments may cause performance decrements not apparent from this investigation.These possible interactions are the subject of on-going research.

Other findings of this experiment are important to the development of methodology forfuture research in this area. The significant difference between the two-second and olfier targetpresentation times, coupled with the non-significance between four and six-second presentationtimes, indicates that subsequent investigations can be confined to the two-second time frame.Additionally, it is apparent that subsequent experiments should be designed to more effectivelydescribe and evaluate the interactions which appeared in this investigation.

The use of photography to qualitatively describe rifle-firing behavior of the individual whileequipped with body armor adds another important dimension to methodological development.While the vest configurations were not statistically significant, the films of selected shooters showseveral possible shortcomings in present body-armor configurations. Several shooters were seen toappreciably alter their shooting form to accommodate the bulk of the vest. It was apparent fromthe films that many shooters placed the butt of the rifle at a different location on the shoulderfor almost every shot. Further, it was noted that some subjects frequently snagged the rear sightof the rifle on the Velcro or zipper flap of the vest. To accommodate for this interference someshooters thrust the rifle butt out away from their body. This behavior indicates a learning effectwhich should be assessed in future research.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The task of evaluating firing behavior of soldiers equipped with body armor was approachedby using an electronically-controlled pop-up target system capable of providing time-to-fire andhit-or-miss data. Presentation times of two, four and six seconds were used to determine aneffective presentation interval. The findings indicate no statistical differences between no vest,standard nylon vest and titanium nylon vest conditions. Further, it was concluded that continueduse of photography is warranted, that target presentation times should be held to two seconds,and that an experimental design better suited to describing shooter versus vest and shooter versustarget time interactions should be used.

7

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DOCUMENT CONTROL DATA - R & D(Security classification of title, body of abstract and indexing annotation must be entered when the overall report Is classified)

I ORIGINATING ACTIVITY (Corporate author) 2-. REPORT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

U. S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory UnclassifiedAberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21005 2b. GROUP

3. REPORT TITLE

EVALUATION OF RIFLE-FIRING BEHAVIOR OF TROOPSEQUIPPED WITH BODY ARMOR: A PILOT STUDY

4. DESCRIPTIVE NOTES (7'ypo of report and Inclusive dates)

5. AUTHOR(S) (First name, middle Initial, last name)

Bernard M. Corona R. Bradley RandallPaul H. Ellis Hayden A. ScheetzR. Douglas Jones

0. REPORT DATE 7a. TOTAL NO. OF PAGES 7b. NO. OF REFS

September 1972 12 0Sa. CONTRACT OR GRANT NO. a. ORIGINATOR*S REPORT NUI'DER(S)

b. PROJECT NO. Technical Note 14-72

C. 9b. OTHER REPORT NO(S) (Any other numbers that may be assignedthis report)

d.

10. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.II. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12. SPONSORING MILITARY ACTIVITY

13. ABSTRACT

Twenty enlisted men, equipped with two types of body armor fired the M16 at pop-up targets. Therange was electronically instrumented to record shots and hits, as well as relationships between theseevents. Each subject fired 180 rounds at targets which appeared for two, four and six-secondpresentation intervals. The results showed no significant difference between standard nylon vest, nylontitanium vest or no-vest conditions as subjects fired from the standing position. Further, it was evidentthat the shooter's performance during two-second presentations differed significantly from performanceduring four and six-second exposures. It was concluded that body armor alone does not affect rifle-firingbehavior for either accuracy or firing time, that subsequent investigations need not include four or sixsecond presentation times, and that further research on rifle-firing behavior should explore completeequipment ensembles, including load-carrying gear.

DD FORM i 7 RPLACES 00 PORM 1478,., JAN $4. WHICH Is

D D NOV6. OBSOLETE POR AIMy USE.

Security Clasaification

Security Clossification14. LINK A LINK 9 LINK C

KEY WORDS- -- -

ROLE WY ROLE WT ROLE WT

Body ArmorRifle-Firing Behavior of TroopsArmor VestEvaluation of Life Support SystemsHuman Factor Engineering

Security Classification