Fatigue Management

on rapid deployment forces. Indeed, research has found unit effectiveness can
be reduced by as much as 15 per cent when a unit deplanes in a new time zone.
We left the plane and had our first taste of equatorial heat.
The air was almost solid! After only a few paces from the
air-conditioned comfort of the Boeing, we were all soaked
in sweat.
Robin Harris, 6RAR, arriving in
South Vietnam, The New Breed in
K. Maddock's Memories of Vietnam, 1991
I was hot, uncomfortably hot. My sweat-stained shirt
clung to my inflamed and prickling chest. This discomfort,
I knew, would pass in a couple of weeks, as soon as my body
adjusted to the heat and the intense humidity of South
Vietnam.
Graham Walker, 8RAR
Like a Card House in the Wind in
K. Maddock's Memories of Vietnam, 1991
Preventing and Reducing the Effects of Jet Lag. One solution to the
problem of jet lag is to attempt to change to the new time zone before deploying
to the area of operations so as to allow the body to make the necessary
adjustments before arrival. This would entail shifting sleep and work
patterns to the new time zone prior to deployment. For example, troops may
sleep in the early afternoon and work through the night for one to two weeks
prior to deployment. Another solution is to establish a forward staging area
and program time for adaptation. Another tip is upon arrival, stay up until the
local normal sleep time, so as to promote, more rapid adjustment. Research
with shift workers and long-haul pilots suggests people can reduce the time
taken to adapt to a new shift by using exposure to bright light. Such
interventions require specialist advice.
After four weeks in Baidoa, diaries kept by members of the
1 RAR Group and interviews conducted in May by Army
psychologists debriefing troops before returning to
Australia suggested that close living conditions and the
paucity of amenities for the combat elements contributed to
a buildup of frustration, resentment and fatigue.
Bob Breen
A Little Bit of Hope:
Australia Force - Somalia, 1998
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