In December 2015 , the brigade surgeon was invited to attend the Army Sleep Summit at the OTSG headquarters . A diverse working group of military leaders and top researchers in the field of sleep science attended the summit to discuss the impact of sleep on performance , health , safety , and readiness . Many experts made a compelling case throughout the sleep summit that sleep duration , daytime impairment , and fatigue are significant correlates of diminished cognitive performance , poor physical health , depression , suicide ideation , motor vehicle accidents , and occupational injury . Specifically , leaders discussed sleep banking throughout the summit as a way to optimize sleep and enhance performance . Significant findings from research show that sleep can be “ banked ” in advance of periods of sleep restriction to improve alertness and performance , and that it contributes to faster recovery from fatigue-induced impairments . 4 Sleep banking can be planned , operationalized , and strategically placed before a known period of sleep restriction to create large gains in performance when the stakes are high . Sleep banking before performance could be the difference between winning and losing — or life and death .
Soldiers of Bulldog Troop , 1st Squadron , 40th Cavalry Regiment recover in a hasty fighting position 4 September 2009 after a night patrol in the mountains near Sar Howza , Paktika Province , Afghanistan . ( Photo by Staff Sgt . Andrew Smith , U . S . Army )
The Fatigue of the Force
Sleep benefits the brain . Conversely , sleep loss is characterized by brain deactivation , especially in the brain regions that mediate cognitive performance and alertness . Performance deficits often result from the effects of sleep loss combined with circadian rhythm misalignment . 5 The short-term consequences of sleep loss are attention deficit , slowed reaction time , reduced alertness , impaired problem solving , and reduced motivation . 6
A 2015 RAND Corporation study reported that 72 percent of service members get less than seven hours of sleep per night , and 23 percent receive less than six . 7 Routinely getting five to six hours per night of sleep is like performing with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent . 8 Less than seven hours of sleep for three or more days correlates to a 20 percent decrease in cognitive performance . 9 In 2014 , fatigue was a contributing factor in
92 January-February 2017
MILITARY REVIEW