Fatigue and Warfighting Readiness

The Marine Corps Risk Management Directorate - Safety Division, in conjunction with Marine Corps Community Services, the Naval Safety Command, and Consortium for Health and Military Performance, has launched a campaign to raise awareness and educate Marines and Sailors on the importance of fatigue management and its impact on warfighting readiness.  

Fatigue poses a significant threat to the readiness and safety of our warfighters across the naval enterprise. The Department of War (DOW) recognizes that impairment caused by fatigue can be equivalent to alcohol intoxication, significantly increasing the risk of physical injury. Fatigue, due to inadequate sleep, has contributed to accidents resulting in deaths and significant damage to military assets. Per DoDI 1010.10 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, the DOW “views sleep patterns as a key indicator of readiness,” and has set guidelines for fatigue management. Staying awake longer than 18 hours or regularly getting less than seven hours of sleep would impair a Marine or Sailor's working memory, ability to concentrate, situational and battlefield awareness, focus, hand-eye coordination, reaction time, decision-making and multitasking abilities.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) performed a two-year survey and study to assess the extent to which service members are getting adequate sleep, and how DOW has addressed and managed service member fatigue. Military Readiness - Comprehensive Approach Needed to Address Service Member Fatigue and Manage Related Efforts (GAO-24-10597), published in March 2024, finds that most service members are not getting seven hours of quality sleep, per the DOW recommendation; in fact, survey results spanning over a decade suggest that service members are sleeping six or fewer hours per night.