March (Military)

MARCH (French: la marche — campaign, transit), an organized movement of a military collective — a military unit, its subunit, or a military formation, aimed at its transfer to fulfill a specific tactical task. From this point of view, a march in a military setting is part of a combat operation. A march can be infantry, cavalry, or ski. Despite the ever-increasing development of mechanized transport, good troop preparation for infantry marches remains the most important quality of the main active force of modern armies — the infantry. This quality, which ensures the mobility of troops, acquires special significance given the maneuverable nature of future wars. In tactical terms, marches are divided into offensive and retreat. Furthermore, depending on conditions and the situation, marches are subdivided: by speed — ordinary, reinforced (forced), competitive (speed); by time — day, night; by road conditions — mountain, forest, etc. The speed of a march is determined by the length of the step and its frequency (tempo). In all armies, both these values are defined by regulations and vary: step length from 66 to 80 cm and the number of steps from 112 to 120 per minute. (In the Red Army, the step length is 75 cm, frequency — 115 per minute.) This gives an average regulatory speed for all armies of 4.5 km per hour. With 6.5 hours of movement (with small halts of up to 10 minutes each hour and one large halt in the second half of the journey), the daily transition is defined by regulations as 25–30 km. With a reinforced march, this distance can increase to 40 km or more, mainly due to an increase in the number of hours of movement and a reduction in the time for large halts. Depending on road conditions, the speed norms provided by regulations change. For example, for obvious reasons, the speed of movement drops sharply during a mountain march (1.5 km per hour), decreases during a night march, especially on unfamiliar roads (from 1 to 2–3 km per hour), in winter conditions (up to 3 km), during the movement of large columns, etc. For a physician, the physiological study of the march is of great interest. In accordance with the data of Zuntz, Schumburg, Atzler, Waller, Amar, and others who studied gas exchange during walking under various conditions (see Walking), energy expenditures during a military march depend on many causes. During a march on a horizontal plane, as shown by the classic studies of Zuntz and Schumburg, the energy expenditure per 1 kg of weight and 1,000 m of path at a speed of 75 m per minute is expressed as 0.55 cal., and at a speed of 90 m per minute (i.e., close to the average regulatory speed) — 0.63 cal. The following table, compiled according to Amar, gives an idea of the comparative increase in energy expenditure during ascent and descent (energy expenditure in small calories per 1 m of path and 1 kg of weight). Terrain Type: Level Ground, Uphill 0.08 cm slope, Uphill 0.13 cm slope, Downhill 0.08 cm slope, Downhill 0.13 cm slope. No load: 0.41, 1.0, 1.8, 0.75, 1.0. With 7.3 kg load: 0.49, 1.5, 2.2, 1.13, 0.84. Serebryannikov and Kravchinsky found that the gross expenditure during a march at a speed of 110 steps per minute is 4.848 large calories (397% of basal metabolism), during a march at the same speed in a gas mask — 7.342 (600%), and during a march at 140 steps per minute — 10.819 (887%). According to Zuntz's data, energy expenditure (per 1 kg of weight and 1 km of path) during a march increases significantly with fatigue of the organism: first day of the campaign: at the beginning — 0.588 cal., at the end — 0.646; second day: at the beginning — 0.522 cal., at the end — 0.661 cal.; third day: at the beginning — 0.664 cal., at the end — 0.699 cal. Waller showed that 2 months of training ensures 2.2 times less energy expenditure for the same march. According to the calculations of Zuntz and Schumburg, a daily transition of 30 km requires 1,630.2 large calories. According to research data in the British Army, a three-day march of 75 km required up to 9,605 large calories. The calculation of the mechanical equivalent of the organism's work during a march, performed according to the data of Zuntz and Schumburg, gives up to 225,000 kg/m for a 30 km transition. Rubner considers the march one of the hardest types of physical labor and determines the work during a 4-hour march in full field equipment as 417,000 kg/m. The march, as an intense and prolonged type of work, is accompanied by significant changes in the state of the organism: a decrease in height, a drop in weight, muscle strength, changes in the cardiovascular system, in the composition of urine, in the leukocyte formula of the blood, etc. The magnitude of changes in individual functions of the organism, as well as the persistence of these changes, depend on the nature of the march, the conditions in which it occurs, and also on the preliminary preparedness of the fighters for the march. Numerous studies in the Red Army, as well as in foreign armies, show that with satisfactory preparation, a regulatory transition of 25–30 km with a load of up to 30 kg is accompanied by relatively small changes in the organism: a drop in weight by 1.5–2 kg, an increase in pulse by 25–30%, a very small change in blood pressure (a slight increase, more rarely — a decrease), quite rare cases (3–5%) of the appearance of protein in the urine, etc., and as a rule, all these changes disappear after just one night of rest. Observations by Scheinberg and others showed that relatively small changes in the organism of fighters also accompany long marches. For example, during a three-day march of 79 km with a load of 20 kg, the weight of the fighters decreases by 3%, a slight decrease in blood pressure (4–6 mm), and isolated cases of protein appearance in the urine. Significantly greater changes are noted during high-speed competitive marches. Schenk, during a 15 km competition at a speed of 135 minutes and a load of 30 kg, notes a weight loss of 2.7 kg, a decrease in height by 1 cm, a decrease in vital capacity of the lungs to 1,500 cm³, a dilation of heart borders from 0.1 to 2.7 cm, the appearance of functional murmurs in the heart in 67 cases out of 190 examined, a drop in systolic blood pressure to 50–60 mm, an increase in pulse to 90 beats per minute, an increase in blood sugar after 1.5 hours by 60–70%. These observations are confirmed by numerous observations at sports competitions in the Red Army. For example, at the Red Army championship during a 25 km march at a speed of 3 hours 09 minutes (1 km — 7 minutes 35 seconds) with a full field load of 26.5 kg, the weight loss on average was 3.9% (the next day — 1.4% of the initial value), the pulse increased immediately after the finish by 89.2% and by 53% after a 30-minute rest, etc. Among the individual factors that, under all equal conditions, have a special influence on the degree of fatigue after a march, is preliminary preparation. According to Mendyuk's observations, even 6 weeks of special training ensures satisfactory preparedness for a march at a regulatory speed and significantly smaller changes in the state of the organism after the transition. Preparation for a march in the troops, in addition to its applied purpose, is the main means of fostering endurance in the personnel of units, simultaneously serving the goals of their physical development. According to Mendyuk's observations, Red Army soldiers who underwent systematic training in marching showed an increase in chest excursion by 6.8% and vital capacity by 23%, while the corresponding values for Red Army soldiers who did not undergo such training were 3.3% and 1.8%. In the system of combat training of troops, preparation for a march is carried out in the order of: 1) training in walking: development of a step, rhythm (the ability to walk in step), which facilitates movement, breathing, etc. (morning physical exercises, physical training lessons, drill training), and 2) acclimatization to marching in the process of rifle-tactical exercises (field trips, maneuvers, etc.) and special march training. Acclimatization to marching must take place while observing the requirements of a gradual increase in physiological load (speed, length of the path, its difficulty, weight of equipment, etc.) while fully linking it with other types of combat training and fostering hygienic habits in the campaign in the fighters. To perform a march while preserving the strength of the fighters as much as possible, compliance with sanitary-hygienic rules for the proper organization of campaign movement in relation to the situation and conditions of the march (correct alternation of movement and rest, organization of nutrition, etc.), as well as the requirements of personal hygiene of the campaign (fitting of equipment and footwear, foot care, drinking regime, etc.) is of great importance.