A sweeping study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that a widespread lack of sleep among service members is costing the military hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to ships, vehicles, and aircraft and has even led to fatal accidents.
The study, published on Tuesday, examined health data provided by the Department of Defense (DOD) from 2005 to 2018.
The study showed that two-thirds of the troops slept less than seven hours a night—the recommended amount of sleep. One-third reported sleeping more than six hours a night.
Roughly half of the surveyed troops reported poor sleep quality, regardless of their hours of sleep, with about a third calling their sleep quality “fairly bad or very bad.”
The results reflect what numerous other surveys conducted reported over the past decade, the GAO said.
Previous reports spurred the DOD to issue guidance on managing fatigue, but the new survey indicates that their practical implications left much to be desired.
“[The DOD] hasn’t identified an office or individual to oversee [sleep issues] or assigned leadership to oversee service-level efforts,” the GAO said.
The GAO also counted nearly 130 fatigue-related “research projects” conducted by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force between 2017 and 2023, 48 of which studied the use of wearable devices to monitor sleep.
The GAO said many of these studies use “the same type of technology or even the same model.”
“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.”
The government watchdog added that the Pentagon has already informally concurred with the recommendations in a general sense.
The effects of insufficient sleep affects all branches of the military, from elite troops to service personnel.
“Sometimes when I’m driving, I find myself falling asleep and I have to catch myself,” one motor vehicle operator reported. “I could kill someone on accident because I’m not getting the right sleep.”
One remotely piloted aircraft operator complained about lowered reaction time, adding, “[I] almost collided with another aircraft due to mental fatigue.”
A military memo issued after a deadly V-22 Osprey aircraft crash during a military drill in Canada last August specifically instructed commanders to discuss balancing the risks associated with fatigue and lack of sleep with their units.
Three marines lost their lives in the accident, and 20 were hospitalized.
Though a lack of sleep is a contributing factor, a 2020 Military Aviation Safety report identified a lack of adequate flight hours and insufficient personnel training as the main reasons behind U.S. military aircraft accidents.
