The Air Force wants to know more about airmen’s sleep patterns and fatigue levels — and how improved sleep habits can enhance readiness.
Researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing are investigating the issue and examining ways to provide airmen with better information to guarantee they are rested and performing at optimal readiness levels.
“Sleep is an essential life function that many overlook,” Lt. Col. Dara Regn, U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine internal medicine branch chief, said in a recent Air Force news release. “Compromised sleep has significant consequences. About 80 percent of aviation accidents are due to human error, and pilot fatigue accounts for about 15 to 20 percent of that.”
Regn said a series of circumstances can lead to inadequate sleep — including work, family and deployments.
“Poor sleep quality can be exacerbated by our mission tempo and demands,” Regn said. “In an operational setting, it can be hard to adapt, making it more challenging to complete long-range missions.”
But the 711th Human Performance Wing, based out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, wants their research on sleep and fatigue to help airmen. That’s why their study is evaluating sleep patterns among pilots and other operators, along with sleep-monitoring technology and how accurate the technology actually is.
“It’s a multi-pronged approach to studying sleep and fatigue,” Dr. Glenn Gunzelmann, 711th Human Performance Wing Airman Systems Directorate training core technical competency lead, said in a recent Air Force news release.
“Providing airmen with information on their sleep patterns and history helps airmen understand how sleep affects their operational effectiveness,” he said. “Giving leadership this data also helps inform policy and how to account for sleep needs in their planning.”
Both Regn and Gunzelmann are part of a NATO aircrew fatigue management working group, which is designed to provide NATO aviators with educational resources on sleep disorders.
Regn, who heads the working group, said it is developing a so-called “sleep toolbox” that will have educational resources on fatigue risk assessment and insomnia. The toolbox will also provide a trove of information about ways to promote better sleep habits, accessible through an open source NATO website and a secure offline application.
The Air Force said the 711th Human Performance Wing is taking a similar approach and crafting an application to monitor airmen’s “sleep and wakefulness data,” which will then examine the impact it has on current and future effectiveness levels.
According to a Rand Corps study conducted in 2015, approximately one-third of troops from all branches of the military reported averaging a total of 5 hours of sleep or less each night. Meanwhile, only 37 percent reported getting seven to eight hours of sleep each night.
The study, which had a sample size of 2,000 troops, also found that 17 percent of service members said their sleep issues harmed their ability to complete daily responsibilities.
Additionally, the study suggested that military culture, not deployment history, was a source contributing to sleep issues service members experienced.
"Sleep problems, including poor sleep quality, short sleep duration, and fatigue, were prevalent regardless of deployment history,” the report said. “This suggests that sleep problems may be endemic to military culture and not solely the result of being deployed.”
