Hydration Status of Air Force Military Basic Trainees After Implementation of the Back-Mounted Hydration System

By Thomas Glare

The military spend a small fortune on making sure their staff are fit as a fiddle. Part of these costs are budgeting for adequate hydration. So what is hydration and why is hydration important? Bodies depend on an adequate amount of water to survive. Any cells, organs and tissues within someone’s body need water to function at their best. As an example, water is needed to maintain core temperature, remove wastes and provide joint lubrication.

Dehydration and health

If you’ve ever felt just so thirsty that you’ve drank water and it was the best thing you’ve ever put in your mouth, this is most likely because you were dehydrated. The military need their soldiers to have enough water to function properly. It’s no use being in a dangerous physical situation if you’ve got ailments and problems. It is clear that drinking water benefits one’s health if done frequently throughout the day.

<img alt=”Common signs of dehydrated”>

There are many common signs that one is dehydrated:

  • Muscle cramps
  • Rapid pulse
  • Confusion
  • Headaches

The best way one can get their body back into a normal state is to go through a process of replacing all the water that’s been lost through hydration. The best way of knowing that one isn’t dehydrated any more is that any symptoms disappear quickly. So what has the Air Force been doing recently with precision hydration for their troops?

The air force’s measures

Everybody needs to stay hydrated when working for the Air Force and they’ve recently been making extraordinary efforts to prevent heat related illnesses that are associated with their basic military training. Studies have shown that improper intake of water leads to a loss of training time.

Typically for line squadrons in the military, trainees are told that they need to drink around 1 water bottle per hour and not to exceed 16 bottles daily. For any people advanced in their military training, they will need to drink around 10 canteens on a daily basis.

A recent study has compared the use of back mounted hydration systems vs. standard issue canteens in terms of hydration status and have revealed that standard issue cantines are more adequate for use. This study also concluded that hydration status is able to be maintained at a high level in hot conditions using standard issue canteens. These canteens are a relatively simple and cost effective way to prevent any sorts of dehydration effects and heat related illnesses. This study did not recommend that back mounted systems should be used to improve hydration yet they did state that further research is required to examine issues and effectiveness.

Hydration is highly important

Take expert advice from this website and drink as much as you need to stay healthy, because dehydration is a real problem. Once it hits, it can create all sorts of problems and so it’s best to alleviate it by staying hydrated throughout the day. Take it from the military champs and be as healthy as can be!

Thomas Glare used to work for the United States Army for 10 years and fought in some pretty tough action on the front line. Nowadays he’s retired and works part time as a copywriter, working on various pieces about the military and related topics. Thomas is also a fully certified personal trainer and loves working out at the gym.

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