Overview

Optimal sleep is critical to mission success. In training and on the battlefield, inadequate sleep impairs essential abilities such as reaction times, the ability to detect and engage the enemy, and squad tactic coordination. When interviewed about the connections between sleep and mission readiness, Soldiers and military leaders consistently associated lack of sleep with accidents, poor morale, and impaired judgment. However, despite mission degradation resulting from sleepiness, a culture of suboptimal sleep and a perception that lack of sleep is “the Army way” prevails in the force.