A member of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command patrols through poppy fields in Afghanistan’s Helmand province in April. Researchers with the University of Pittsburgh announced that they’ve been awarded funding to begin an injury prevention and performance optimization program with MARSOC
(Cpl. Kyle McNall/Marine Corps)
Experts from the University of Pittsburgh will soon head to North Carolina to help develop ways for Marine special operators to better prevent job-related injuries.
The university recently announced that its Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center was awarded funding to conduct research with the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. The project will be built around injury prevention and performance optimization for the MARSOC operator.
The researchers will seek to design a program that is “culturally-specific and dynamically responsive to the unique tactical demands” of MARSOC operators, the release states. They’ll conduct the research aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., home of MARSOC, starting in early 2014.
The university’s Warrior Human Performance Research Center has been involved in a number of research projects on military operators. They’ve teamed with Naval Special Warfare, the Army Special Operations Command and Air Force Special Operations Command.
The group’s objective is to study physiological demands and associated injuries of special operators, according to their website. The site also states that they seek to provide operators with tools to:
- Mitigate the incidence and severity of operator injuries.
- Maximize human capital and combat readiness.
- Enhance the tactical life cycle of the operator and quality of life outlook after service.
Camp Lejeune will be the group’s sixth research center aboard military installations.
