Abstract : This study was undertaken to examine the relationship(s) between health, nutrition, body composition, and physical performance in female soldiers during the B weeks of basic combat training (BCT). The study investigated female soldiers assigned to three platoons within a single all-female basic training company over the period of 22 March 1993 to 20 May 1993 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Volunteer soldiers participated in pre-training (pre-BCT; 174 original volunteers with a mean age of 21.4 yrs) and post-training (post-BCT; 158 successful BCT graduates) performance and body composition testing, as well as three separate blood draws (pre-BCT, midpoint of BCT, and.post-BCT). Additionally, a 7-day dining facility dietary assessment survey was performed on a subset of 49 randomly selected - soldiers during the second week of training. Questionnaires were utilized to acquire demographic information, as well as to assess nutrition knowledge and beliefs and food attitudes.