Effects of Sleep on Training Effectiveness in Soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood

Abstract

Period of Research: 7/15/09 -9/30/09 1) Project Overview: Military training often includes some degree of sleep deprivation, either by design or unintentionally, which may have important implications for Soldier physical health, well-being, and performance. This study was conducted to determine if adjusting scheduled sleep periods to better complement age-specific biologically driven sleep patterns would improve sleep and performance in Army recruits completing basic combat training (BCT). A total of 394 recruits and instructor cadre were enrolled in the study: 185 participants in the control group (a training company using the standard sleep regimen) and 209 participants in the treatment group (a training company using an optimized sleep regimen designed based on a fatigue modeling tool). Demographic and psychophysiological measures were collected at the start of the study using standard survey instruments and methods. A random sample of 95 recruits wore wrist activity monitors to non-obtrusively record sleep quantity and quality throughout the study period. Weekly assessments were made of subjective fatigue and mood throughout the training period. Data on physical fitness, marksmanship performance, and attrition were collected from organizational databases. 2) Project Schedule:The original project schedule is shown below with schedule overruns highlighted in red. Schedule tasks 1-4 were accomplished as originally planned. A contract was awarded for data entry services starting 24Aug09 and expired at the end of FY09. Significant administrative delays were encountered in working the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) to renew the data entry contract at the start of FY10. The contract re-award was not accomplished until 14Dec09. Consequently, data entry was not completed until 25Jan10. This caused a 78-day slip in the start of the data analysis task. In response, tasks 5 and 7 were divided into Phase I and Phase II efforts. The Phase I effort focused on that portion of the dataset that could be analyzed and reported prior to the 12Feb10 suspense. The Phase II effort will include analysis and reporting for the full dataset. 4) Overall Assessment of Project:The implementation phase of the study conducted at Fort Leonard Wood went well with excellent local support. Unfortunately, administrative delays related to contracting for data entry services significantly set back the data analysis phase. The limited Phase I analysis has identified promising preliminary results that will be explored during the Phase II analysis of the complete study dataset. 5) Way Ahead:The next step is to complete the Phase II data analysis and report writing. Determination of subsequent steps will need to await the Phase II findings. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER NPS-OR-10-003 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)Leonard 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE A 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words)This study assessed where adjus...