Study: Most US service members lack enough sleep — it can be deadly

Getting enough sleep is important, especially when a country’s national security depends on it. A new study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the majority of U.S. service members surveyed reported less than 6 hours a night, despite the Department of Defense’s recommended minimum of 7 hours a night.

The new data shows a lack of sleep is also dangerous. The survey found that fatigue led to deadly accidents and hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to ships, vehicles and aircraft.

Survey respondents described how sleep issues impacted their work as well. One respondent said that a lack of sleep caused them to nearly collide with another aircraft and one reported falling asleep on the job.

While some of the problems were physical, others were mental.

“I could kill someone because I’m not getting the right sleep,” one anonymous responder said.

The right sleep is important too. Roughly half of the study’s respondents reported poor sleep, even if they did achieve the recommended hours.

In total, the GAO offered nine recommendations for the Department of Defense to implement. One of the recommendations was for the DOD to take steps to address fatigue-related issues, like creating guidance on fatigue management. Researchers also said that the DOD needs better oversight and collaboration when it comes to tackling fatigue in its ranks.

In addition, the study recommends fatigue-related oversight structure and a list of all related research projects to help the DOD learn about the impact of fatigue on service members and operations. The GAO said implementing new policies that help reduce fatigue could save lives and money for the DOD.

The GAO study looked into health data from 2005 to 2018, and interviewed pilots, aviation maintenance workers and missileers.