About TRU
The TRU is a network of multidisciplinary international experts who investigate ways to optimise the physical and cognitive capabilities, and safety of tactical personnel – whether military, law enforcement, firefighters, or first responder organisations.
Comprised of academic researchers and personnel who have served in tactical professions, the TRU provides the critical transfer of scientific evidence to pragmatic application across tactical, operational, and strategic management levels. Using a bespoke 'Trident Approach' the TRU engage with academics, industry and end-users to ensure research has real world outcomes.
The TRU is nested within Bond University’s Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, which received the highest possible ranking of ‘well above world standard’, and ‘at world standard’ for human movement and sports science, from the Australian Research Council (ARC) in its Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA).
The overarching aim of the group is to improve the fitness, health, wellbeing and occupational performance of those who serve and ensure new research findings are shared across the different tactical populations.
Services
The TRU provides services to government, industry, academic and private institutions. These include research projects, consultancy reports and educational and training packages.
Since 2015, the TRU team has conducted research across multiple tactical agencies covering initial training through to specialist selection and rehabilitation.
Consultancy projects have included the development of evidence-based, tactically viable, reports to inform multiple agencies and the generation of injury management, assessments, and conditioning optimization frameworks.
Education and training services use the latest research evidence and practical experience to provide workshops, courses or longer programs to tactical personnel as well as their support staff, such as physiotherapists, physical training instructors, and strength and conditioning coaches.
Latest news
Conditioning Specialist Police
This study by our PhD student and Tactical Coaching Extraordinaire Coach Jeremy Robinson in JSCR (doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000005356) was recently published.
A 12‑week Daily Undulating Periodisation (DUP) program delivered to specialist police trainees produced simultaneous improvements in:
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Strength (pull‑ups, split squat)
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Lower‑limb power across unloaded and loaded CMJs
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Anaerobic performance (RAST total time ↓ 1.12 s)
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Aerobic capacity (MAS ↑ 0.09 m/s; VO₂max ↑ 1.10 ml/kg/min)
All while these officers were completing high‑tempo tactical skills training, limited recovery, sleep and nutrition disruption, moving and wearing loads of over 20 kg, and the unpredictable demands that come with specialist policing – with no ‘opt out’ option.
This is the real story:
Tactical personnel don’t need to “peak”, they need to sustain readiness under constraints athletes never face. They may even have to perform at their best in a critical incident with little notice immediately after training session.
Smart programming like DUP helps bridge that gap.
Aerobic Fitness wins again
Recent analysis of a specialist riot police training program led by Dr Ben Schram again highlighted aerobic fitness as the strongest predictor of successful course completion. Officers with higher initial shuttle run scores had substantially greater likelihood of finishing, with modelling showing clear probability thresholds:
Meeting the minimum standard ~60% probability of completion
+4 shuttles above minimum ~70% probability
+9 shuttles above minimum ~80% probability
+17 shuttles above minimum ~90% probability
Strength and power also emerged as important contributors to occupationally relevant performance under load, with explosive lower‑body ability and upper‑body force production showing the strongest associations.
Interestingly, demographic characteristics did not predict outcomes. Age, height, weight, and sex had no meaningful influence once physical performance was accounted for.
These findings reinforce a simple operational truth - start with aerobic fitness!
Upcoming events
TACOPS Bond University Microcredential courses
The Tactical Conditioning Optimisation Program (TACOPS) is designed to provide those in tactical occupations (such as military, law enforcement and corrective services, firefighters and first responders) as well as those who support these personnel (including strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, fitness instructors, physiotherapists and occupational therapists) with a detailed understanding of the health and fitness needs of tactical personnel.
Designed as a series of eight professional development courses, the program spans topics ranging from physical assessment requirements, to the physical strength and conditioning requirements of tactical personnel across their occupational lifespan (i.e. trainee, general duties, specialists). Using an approach focused on translating research evidence to practice, the course considers the latest scientific literature as well as a pragmatic approach to implementation.
You will learn from Dr Rob Orr, the Director of the Bond University Tactical Research Unit, a multidisciplinary, international team of researchers providing research, consultancy, and education services to tactical professions around the globe.
Key courses are available online at any time via our high-quality learner platform. The self-paced delivery gives you the flexibility to work around your other commitments. Upon successful completion of each course, you will receive a digital Certificate of Achievement in recognition of your new competencies. Upon successful completion of the full program, you will gain a program digital Certificate of Completion.
For further course information, please visit the Bond University Tactical Conditioning Optimisation Program page.
