HEY Shipmates

Chief, Otis, and anyone else that has had sea duty. Does this strike you as ENORMISLY stupid as it does to me.

They should be talking to sailors.

"How much sleep's enough? Navy wants to know
Graybiel Lab takes on military-funded study, with Brandeis students as subjects"

http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/septem ... study.html

Way back when I was on a variety of haze grey and under way vessels I always checked the watch bill for my name before turning in. It wasn't uncommon to find out that I had fire watch or had to cover for other shipmates watches instead of hitting the rack. Any day at sea that a sailor can get six solid hours of sleep is a blessing, less than four makes for hard going and a lot of coffee.

Either way all bets for more than a couple of hours of contiguous sleep are off, random drills, real fires, and any number of other events that cause the 1MC to go off make for sleeplessness for the entire crew. At some point everyone gets worn down to the point that sailors just sleep when they can. The only good part of having to hot rack is that you literally get thrown out of the rack by your shipmate, being late for watch won't happen very often and the penalties for being late ensure that lesson is learned right away.

As a sailor gains experience and earns higher rank the sleep deprivation gets worse and so does the pressure to perform along with being held accountable for the performance of those who report to them. Sleep? Sleep when you're dead, there's plenty of time for that then. That's what it takes to operate a vessel under normal conditions; strike all of the above when the vessel goes into an active theater and the bad guys are in range.

Sailors lucky enough to be on a large enough ship get their own rack:

[youtube:1x80xcn6][/youtube:1x80xcn6]

why are there Chinese subtitles?
Thanks for your service guys, but are we supposed to feel sorry for you? Did you expect a cruise ship?

Hoot Owl wrote: why are there Chinese subtitles?
Thanks for your service guys, but are we supposed to feel sorry for you? Did you expect a cruise ship?

Not sure about the subtitles but I'm guessing that the US Navy wanted to communicate what conditions are like for the average sailor to those they defend, even if they are not US citizens. Imagine what sailors who serve other nations endure at sea.

Feel sorry for those who chose to serve? Hell no! That is what we signed up for and how much we are willing to give for the security of the USA and the safety of our citizens. It's not an easy job and it isn't for everyone but those with the determination, skill, and tenacity can take pride in what they do and their service to the nation.

Hoot Owl wrote: why are there Chinese subtitles?
Thanks for your service guys, but are we supposed to feel sorry for you? Did you expect a cruise ship?

Reading comprehension problems? The point is that I think the Navy is crazy to pay to have someone study how
Brandeis students do with a few hours less sleep a night in a swing instead of talking to sailors who have multiple cruises of 100 plus days at sea, port and starboard with turn too six days a week, when there are no special evolutions.

Edit: Never mind, that is why I addressed the OP to sailors.

otisptoadwater wrote: Way back when I was on a variety of haze grey and under way vessels I always checked the watch bill for my name before turning in. It wasn't uncommon to find out that I had fire watch or had to cover for other shipmates watches instead of hitting the rack. Any day at sea that a sailor can get six solid hours of sleep is a blessing, less than four makes for hard going and a lot of coffee.

Best as I can recall six hours every three or four days was a blessing. We did a lot of time in the IO in 3 section with a dog watch.

I think whoever authorized this study must have been up against the end of a quarter with $ to spend.

PS Hoot owl, it was better than a cruise. Where else can you go to get paid to see foreign countries and screw exotic women around the globe.

After going through the A and C schools and other programs later in my career as an officer I know that US Navy personnel are so conditioned that they do what they have been trained to do as a reflex. Does it work out perfectly every time? No but more often than not it seems that we get it right, there is too much at risk to get it wrong.

College students are deprived of sleep but that has more to do with how they spend their free time and the burdens of making a living and going to school. Paying them to not sleep in the name of research and trying to apply the results to US Navy sailors lives is counter productive. College students have no worries about a fire that could kill everyone on board a vessel at sea, exploding paint lockers, a sinking ship, or entering a compartment that contains little or no oxygen.

Put that environment on the move in all three dimensions 24x7 and you will find that the sea can be a very cruel host. The saltest man that ever sailed the seas will admit that men are powerless over the sea, ships sink and men loose their lives when weather conditions are adverse. Let's add on the idea that there are navies of other nations that mean to sink US Navy vessels and now the odds get a little worse. Those who dare and live through the experience have the privilege of telling their tales, the rest are fondly remembered and reviled by those that survive them.

Sand sailors know a different level of threat but that is a story for a different time....

otisptoadwater wrote: Paying them to not sleep in the name of research and trying to apply the results to US Navy sailors lives is counter productive. ...

Which is exactly where I started. Glad to see that it is not just me.

Somewhere out there someone thinks this research is a good idea and that the research will some how be meaningful, I'll bet you there is a Federal grant funding this research... More tax payer cash down the sh*ter... Did Barry authorize this study?