Military Review English Edition January-February 2017 | Page 96

In order to allow the platoon to sleep bank effectively, an adjustment to the normal Army duty schedule was required. The platoon normally shows up for
work at 0600 before starting 0630 physical training
(PT). From 5–14 February 2016, the command agreed
to “reverse PT,” where the soldiers would show up at
0900 and conduct PT in the afternoon at 1600. This
adjustment fell more in line with the natural circadian

controlled, including personnel changes, soldier experience levels, crew dynamics, weather, range execution,
and maintenance issues. Additionally, the unit had four
months of increased training before the latter FTX.
In October 2015, two of the four crews in 2nd
Platoon qualified on their first attempt, while two
required multiple attempts to meet the minimum
qualification requirements (700 of 1,000 points and

rhythm of sleep, which is from approximately from
2300 to 0700 (the best hours of sleep are early in the
morning when the soldiers are normally getting ready
for work).16 During this sleep-banking time, the soldiers were required to keep a “sleep journal” in which
they logged their hours of sleep. Sleep journals showed
that for the ten-day period before the FTX, the platoon averaged 8.9 hours of sleep per night, significantly more than the reported average of five to six hours
per night before sleep banking.

7 of 10 passed engagements). Upon completion of the
FTX, the overall platoon average score was 756 out
of a possible 1,000.
In February 2016, following a weeklong period of
sleep banking, all four crews in 2nd Platoon qualified
on their first attempt, and the platoon average score increased by 163 points up to 919 out of 1,000 points. In
addition to the improved scores, the platoon executed
GT VI without safety violations, accidents, or injuries.

Gunnery Performance Improvement

Soldier and Leader Feedback
and Impact on Health

The GT VI (crew-level gunnery) scores for 2nd
Platoon increased substantially from the October
2015 (no sleep banking) FTX to the February 2016
(sleep banking) FTX. However, many factors were not

Upon completion of GT VI, all members of the
platoon were questioned on how sleep banking affected their health and performance during gunnery.
Subjective feedback from across the platoon was

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January-February 2017  MILITARY REVIEW