How to Avoid Military Sleep Deprivation and Boost Morale

Be honest: when does sleep happen on your schedule? Often it's what's left over once the work is done. RAND's review of sleep in the US military named "possible stigma associated with taking breaks" as one barrier to healthy sleep.^[6]

Let's start with the numbers. For over a decade, US Department of Defense surveys have found that most service members report sleeping six or fewer hours a night, against the department's own guidance of seven or more.^[3] The US Army's manual says most soldiers need 7 to 9 hours of sleep every 24 hours.^[1]

Canada looks similar. In a five-country paper co-authored by researchers at Canada's Department of National Defence, 67.2% of Canadian respondents reported under seven hours, against 77.2% in the US.^[4] In the 2019 Canadian Armed Forces Health Survey, 40.4% of Regular Force men and 48.7% of women met the recommended seven to under ten hours.^[7]

That's the bad news. Here's the good: just because it's normal doesn't mean it's healthy, and it doesn't mean it's inevitable. Let's look at where you can start.

Think about the last time you were running on empty. Short fuse? Flat? Morale has many parts. Mood, patience and motivation are three of them, and sleep loss shows up there.

Let's see what the research says. In a classic 1996 analysis of 19 studies, mood was more affected by sleep deprivation than either cognitive or motor performance.^[2] In two lab experiments (53 adults), people who'd missed a night's sleep reported more stress, anxiety and anger after a mild task than rested people did.^[8] The US Army's manual lists "reduced motivation level" among the effects of inadequate sleep.^[1]

In a 53-hour field exercise, 31 US Army officers slept an average of 3.0 hours, and their mood deteriorated. Heat, dehydration and undernutrition were also in play.^[9]

Picture your own brain with me. Here's the picture I use when I teach it. The prefrontal cortex, the CEO of the brain, is the brake. The amygdala, the brain's emotional center, is the gas pedal. When we're short on sleep, the two get disconnected, and we become more emotionally reactive. In one small brain-imaging study, one night without sleep left the two less connected.^[10] I can't point you to a study that measured unit cohesion itself. But in my experience working with military personnel, mood, patience and how we treat each other under pressure are part of what cohesion is built from.

It's a fair question, and the honest answer is no. The US Army's manual calls the notion that one can adapt to sleep loss "a myth," and says soldiers "cannot be trained to perform better on less sleep."^[1]

People may not notice it, either. Among 2,738 soldiers surveyed 90 to 180 days after returning from Iraq, 72% slept six hours or less, but only 16% reported a nap or felt their job performance was affected.^[11] In a lab experiment, adults limited to six hours or less in bed for two weeks performed as poorly as after up to two nights without sleep, and were largely unaware of it.^[12]

Toughness doesn't change it. After almost 73 hours without sleep, plus operational and environmental stress, the share of targets military trainees missed on a rifle simulator rose by 37.5%.^[13] In a study of transport workers and army personnel, performance on some tests after 17 to 19 hours awake was equivalent to or worse than at a blood alcohol level of 0.05%.^[14]

The Army's manual says sleep onset in a sleep-starved brain "is not a voluntary act."^[1] Here's the good news: you can't tough it out, but we can plan.

You've probably heard of the military sleep method. It's a relaxation routine, usually traced to track coach Bud Winter's 1981 book, Relax and Win.^[15] The famous claim that 96% of pilot cadets could fall asleep within two minutes after six weeks of practice is a story told about the method. It isn't a study result.

Here are the steps, as usually described. Let's walk through them:

1. Relax the muscles of your face.
2. Relax your shoulders and arms.
3. Breathe out and relax your chest.
4. Relax your legs.
5. Spend about ten seconds picturing something calm.

So, does it work? Relaxation has some support. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests relaxation therapy for chronic insomnia (a conditional recommendation), while its strong recommendation is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).^[16] A 2026 meta-analysis of 14 randomized trials found progressive muscle relaxation improved self-reported sleep quality, but results varied widely.^[17] Neither tested this exact routine, or "asleep in two minutes."

Here's the thing. When people tell me "I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime," my answer is the same: that's sleep deprivation. If you drop off in seconds, let's find out what your sleep is telling you. If you doze off in meetings or at the wheel, talk to your physician.

I want you to start here, because leaders set the conditions. In a group randomized trial, platoon leaders took a one-hour sleep leadership course. Six weeks later, more of their soldiers reported sleeping at least seven hours than soldiers whose leaders were on the waitlist. Sleep quality and sleep problems didn't differ, and everything was self-reported.^[5]

Timing is an easy lever, and I'd argue timing is everything. It's not just what you do that matters, it's also when you do it. In a small 2026 study of 37 soldiers, moving physical training from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. left total sleep unchanged, while sleep quality, sleepiness and insomnia symptoms improved, and morale improved modestly. It was a before-and-after comparison with no control group.^[18]

In my experience, one-size-fits-all approaches lack impact, because we're all individuals. Start with a day in the life of your unit, and plan sleep around it.

You cannot manage fatigue. The only way to manage fatigue is to get the sleep you need. What you can manage is the risk, so let's find your danger zones: the overnight low, roughly 2 to 6 a.m., when the lights are on and nobody's home, and the mid-afternoon lull. In road data, accident risk peaks around 3 a.m.^[19]

I used to tell people to take a knee when they're at risk, and the spirit still holds: it isn't weakness. But in my experience, people won't put their hand up at the start of a shift and say they're cooked. So build fatigue checks into the work itself, and don't count on someone to volunteer. The goal is people who come to work fit for duty and make it home safe. Whatever the rotation or watch system, there are ways to adapt.

Caffeine is a short-term tool. The Army's manual says it "does not replace sleep," and advises stopping it at least six hours before scheduled sleep.^[1] Talk to your physician about what's right for you.

On rotations or nights? Surviving Shift Work® can guide you through adapting within any shift system.

Sleep before deployment matters. In a study of 15,204 US service members who had deployed, trouble sleeping before deployment was associated with higher odds of new-onset PTSD, depression and anxiety afterward. The analysis adjusted for combat-related trauma. That's an association, not proof of cause.^[21] Sleep can also follow people home. Among 110 service members referred for sleep problems after deployment, 62.7% were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and 63.6% with insomnia. That's a referred group, not everyone who deployed.^[22]

If your sleep didn't come home with you, that's not weakness. Get it checked. Loud snoring, gasping or choking at night, or insomnia that won't budge: talk to your physician. I don't recommend melatonin or sleep medications as a fix. If you're using them, talk to your physician before changing anything.

Measuring can help, too. In a non-randomized study, soldiers back from combat who wore an activity monitor for three weeks and got a personal report had fewer sleep problems two months later than a matched group.^[23] Start with the Free Sleep Assessment or an Advanced Sleep Assessment. Neither is a diagnosis, and neither is the tool used in that study. A tracker gives you data, not decisions. Your wearable can tell you what happened to your sleep last night. We tell you what to do about it.