‘I Could Kill Someone’: Most U.S. Troops Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep, Report Warns

Most U.S. troops need more sleep.

That’s the big-picture takeaway from a sweeping Government Accountability Office study that found a sizable majority of service members get six hours or less of sleep each night. The Defense Department recommends a minimum of seven hours.

The consequences could reach far beyond sluggishness or crankiness.

“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,” says a part of the study, made public on Tuesday.

A remotely piloted aircraft operator told the GAO that they “almost collided with another aircraft due to mental fatigue,” and an aviation maintainer said sleep deprivation means a “greater possibility of mistakes.” (Read more from “‘I Could Kill Someone’: Most U.S. Troops Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep, Report Warns” HERE)