text: Sleep Readiness
  chemicals that accumulate in the brain during wakefulness. Prioritizing sleep, and ensuring that opportunities
  for Soldier sleep are maximized in all operational environments, serves to optimize brain, psychological, and
  immunological health. In particular, sleeping properly before training improves attention, understanding, and
  learning. Sleeping properly after training improves the ability to both remember and appropriately utilize
  newly-acquired skills and information.
  11-11. Although some Soldiers may require a little more or a little less sleep, for the vast majority of
  Soldiers a steady diet of 7–8 hours of sleep every 24 hours is needed to sustain normal levels of brain function
  and health indefinitely. Most Soldiers who regularly obtain less than 7–8 hours of sleep every 24 hours pay
  a price: they unwittingly but steadily accrue a significant sleep debt, characterized by increasingly suboptimal
  alertness, reduced mental sharpness, and an impaired ability to recover from stress. These Soldiers typically
  believe that they are fine and may perform most basic duties adequately. From an objective standpoint, their
  alertness and mental acuity is significantly (and invariably) impaired. As a rule of thumb, any Soldier who
  sleeps two or more hours longer on days off (versus duty days) carries a significant sleep debt.
  11-12. Even for those who regularly obtain the generally recommended 7–8 hours of sleep per night, more
  sleep can result in even better alertness and mental acuity. In brain health and mental functioning, there is no
  such thing as too much sleep. Therefore, to maximize brain health and functioning in an operational
  environment, Soldiers aim to maximize sleep as much as possible within the constraints of the operation. As
  sleep duration increases, so does the likelihood of mission success.
  11-13. Insufficient sleep degrades the brain’s function. The more sleep the brain gets, the better it functions.
  The effects of inadequate sleep on brain function and performance are well-documented:
  * Reduced ability to concentrate, impaired judgment, problem solving and decision making.
  * Increased irritability and reduced mood.
  * Reduced motivation level.
  * Increased reaction time and slowed response time.
  * Reduced ability to effectively cope with stress.
  * Increased risk of physical injury.
  * Increased time to recover from injury.
  11-14. Insufficient sleep negatively affects not only cognitive performance, but emotional and social
  functioning. Adequate sleep promotes an optimistic outlook and social acuity, but failure to obtain adequate
  sleep on a regular basis (for example, being chronically sleep restricted) makes a person less resilient to stress
  and stress-related disorders including posttraumatic stress and depression.
  11-15. If the brain is starved of sleep for long enough, it will eventually fall asleep. Although severe
  sleepiness can be staved off momentarily by increasing environmental stimulation (for example, increasing
  the volume on the radio, opening a car window, getting up and walking around), no amount of effort or
  willpower will maintain wakefulness for long. Humans cannot resist the need for sleep any more than the
  need for air. In much the same way that it is impossible to hold one’s breath until consciousness is lost, it is
  likewise impossible for the sleep-starved individual to resist sleep onset. At some point, the sleepy brain will
  slip into sleep, regardless of any and all efforts to avoid it. Sleep onset under such conditions is not a voluntary
  act. Therefore, severe sleepiness is dangerous not only to the sleepy individuals, but also to people around
  them. Severe sleepiness proves more dangerous when individuals engage in monotonous activities such as
  driving, pulling security, or monitoring equipment or computer screens.
  11-16. In short, the brain has a physiological need for sleep, and sleep promotes and sustains the ability to
  think and maintain mental toughness. And the more sleep, the better. Although obtaining 7 to 9 hours of
  nightly sleep generally results in the ability to sustain normal levels of alertness and performance during the
  daytime, obtaining even more sleep results in greater brain readiness—enhanced mental sharpness and
  resilience in the field.