• Convergence Security Journal
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.167-174
• /
• 2024

While reserve forces play a critical role in modern warfare, the primary focus on reserve forces has been on men. Women's reserve forces have received little attention. The purpose of this study is to examine the need to increase the number of women in the reserve and the impact of increasing the number of women on active duty. The reasons for the need for women in the military are the decrease in the resources of the reserve force as well as the regular force due to the decrease in population, the development of fields where women can perform missions with advantages due to the changing patterns of warfare, and the changing situation of gender equality and the increasing role of women in society. However, it is currently optional, not mandatory, for female veterans to join the Reserve. The number of cadres entering the reserve may decrease as the number of active-duty women increases. Using a 2018 estimate of 13.9 percent of women transitioning to the Reserve, 194 of the 1,402 projected transitioning women in '27 will transition to the Reserve. This leaves an estimated shortfall of 1,208 reserve officers and NCO. This suggests that the policy of increasing the number of women on active duty could have a significant impact on the reserve force in the future, and further policy research is needed.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.141-147
• /
• 2015

Objective : This study aimed to understand how increased heart rates at the time of drop landing during a step test would affect biomechanical variables of the lower extremity limbs. Background : Ballet performers do more than 200 landings in a daily training. This training raises the heart rate and the fatigability of the lower extremity limbs. Ballet performance high heart rate can trigger lower extremity limb injury. Method : We instructed eight female ballet dancers with no instability in their ankle joints(mean ${\pm}$ SD: age, $20.7{\pm}0.7yr$; body mass index, $19.5{\pm}1.2kg/m^2$, career duration, $8.7{\pm}2.0yr$) to perform the drop landing under the following conditions: rest, 60% heart rate reserve (HRR) and 80% HRR. Results : First, the study confirmed that the increased heart rates of the female ballet dancers did not affect the working ranges of the knee joints during drop landing but only increased angular speeds, which was considered a negative shock-absorption strategy. Second, 80% HRR, which was increased through the step tests, led to severe fatigue among the female ballet dancers, which made them unable to perform a lower extremity limb-neutral position. Hence, their drop landing was unstable, with increased introversion and extroversion moments. Third, we observed that the increasing 80% HRR failed to help the dancers effectively control ground reaction forces but improved the muscular activities of the rectus femoris and vastus medialis oblique muscles. Fourth, the increasing heart rates were positively related to the muscular activities of the vastus medialis oblique and rectus femoris muscles, and the extroversion and introversion moments. Conclusion/Application : Our results prove that increased HRR during a step test negatively affects the biomechanical variables of the lower extremity limbs at the time of drop landing.