Boris Banjevic; Aldijana Nokic & Jovica Petkovic

Previous research in military medicine, anthropometry, and kinesiology has demonstrated substantial variation in morphological characteristics and body composition among military personnel, reflecting differences in age, occupational demands, training requirements, and service-specific roles. The present study aimed to assess morphological characteristics and examine differences among members of the Montenegro Armed Forces across three service branches. The sample comprised 240 active-duty military personnel, equally distributed across three groups (n = 80 per group): Navy (38.1 ± 6.0 years), Air Force (38.0 ± 5.0 years), and Ground Forces (36.1 ± 7.0 years). The anthropometric assessment included measures of longitudinal dimensions, transverse dimensions, body mass and volume, subcutaneous adiposity, and body composition. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. Differences among the three groups were examined using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), followed by univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s post hoc test where appropriate. The MANOVA indicated statistically significant differences in the overall morphological profile among the three service branches. Subsequent univariate analyses identified seven variables that contributed significantly to the observed between-group differences: body height, shoulder breadth, waist circumference, abdominal skinfold thickness, thoracic skinfold thickness, body fat percentage, and waist-to-hip ratio. These findings indicate that members of different service branches of the Montenegro Armed Forces exhibit distinct morphological and body-composition profiles. The observed differences may be associated with a combination of demographic, occupational, training-related, and anthropometric factors; however, the cross-sectional design does not permit causal inferences regarding the mechanisms underlying these differences. Future research should incorporate larger samples and stratified analyses by age, rank, military specialty, training history, and occupational demands to provide a more comprehensive understanding of morphological variation within the Montenegro Armed Forces.

KEY WORDS: Anthropometry; Body composition; Morphological characteristics; Military personnel; Armed forces; Montenegro; Service branches.

BANJEVIC, B.; NOKIC, A. & PETKOVIC, J. Morphological characteristics of members of the Montenegro armed forces: Differences across service branches. Int. J. Morphol., 44(4):1469-1475, 2026.