Document Type

Thesis - NSU Access Only

Title

Military readiness : an exploration of the relationship between marksmanship and visual acuity

Authors

Kenny Harold Wells, Nova Southeastern University

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Clinical Vision Research

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Department

College of Optometry

First Advisor

Heidi Wagner

Publication Date / Copyright Date

2008

Publisher

Nova Southeastern University. College of Optometry.

NSUWorks Citation

Kenny Harold Wells. 2008. Military readiness : an exploration of the relationship between marksmanship and visual acuity. Master's thesis. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Optometry. (3)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_opt_stuetd/3.

Abstract

Background. The United States military relies on visual acuity standards to assess enlistment induction and military occupational specialty eligibility. In addition, the military recently instituted the Vision Readiness and Classification System to monitor Soldiers' combat vision readiness. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between visual acuity and marksmanship performance using a single blind randomized trial with the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000.

Methods. Marksmanship performance was evaluated in 28 subjects under simulated day and night conditions with habitual spectacle prescription and contact lenses that created visual blur.

Results. The relationship between visual acuity and marksmanship performance was found to have a statistically significant correlation of -0.735 with a 95% confidence interval from -0.790 to -0.669. Subsequently, 54 percent of the variance in marksmanship performance was accounted for by visual acuity. In addition, a panel poison regression model using an independent correlation structure revealed significant differences (p< .001) as visual acuity decreased from 20/25 to 20/50.

Conclusions. Marksmanship performance decreases as visual acuity decreases. This relationship supports the use of a visual acuity requirement in the assessment of military readiness.

Disciplines

Optometry

Keywords

Health and environmental sciences, Social sciences, Marksmanship, Vision readiness, Visual acuity

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