Majority of US troops struggle with sleep, affecting their job performance: report

A significant majority of U.S. service members aren't getting enough sleep and it's affecting their job performance, according to a recent study from the Government Accountability Office.

While the Defense Department recommends a minimum of seven hours of sleep, the GAO study found one third of service members are getting less than six. 

“When service members don’t get enough sleep, it can affect their performance. Fatigue has led to fatal accidents and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to ships, vehicles, and aircraft,” the study reads.

One pilot told the GAO that they “almost collided with another aircraft due to mental fatigue,” according to The Washington Times.

An aviation maintainer told the GAO that due to sleep deprivation, more mistakes are prone to happen. 

One third of service members surveyed said their sleep quality was very bad.

While the Pentagon and some of the individual military services have instituted various studies and sleep-related programs, the GAO said more needs to be done.

“GAO is making nine recommendations, including that DoD conducts an assessment of its fatigue-related oversight structure, assigns DoD leadership, and creates and maintains a list of all fatigue-related research projects, and that the military services assign fatigue-related leadership,” said the report.

Part of the problem is that military personnel often keep irregular hours, need to stay awake for long periods or have unpredictable schedules, which is why naps are one of recommendations in the study.