Fatigue Management

In spite of stress and difficulty, unremitting toil and
wasted effort, weary days and sleepless nights, fresh task
piling upon the task but just begun, labouring even harder
during periods of so-called rest than when their troops
were actually in the line, this gallant group... Remained
steadfast...
Lieutenant-General Sir JohnMonash,
describing the staff officers of the Australian Corps
The Australian Victories in France
in 1918, 1920
The Myth of Immunity to Sleep Loss. Commanders often regard
themselves as being the least vulnerable to fatigue. We have seen that this is
not the case. Leaders in the field must have both physical and mental
endurance, accentuating their need for sleep, thus making them prone to
performance deficits when deprived of sleep. Command tasks typically
require complex reasoning, detailed planning, prolonged concentration and
quick or difficult decision-making. These cognitive tasks are generally more
tiring than even strenuous physical exercise and are often associated with
sleep disturbances.
Commanders must cope with the effects of fatigue and sleep loss on their own
performance as well as monitor these effects in subordinates. The fact that
leaders usually need more sleep than troops may pose a dilemma to
commanders who desire to lead by example. Perhaps Field Marshal Slim's
comments may ease such concerns. Slim normally went to bed at 2200 hours,
and if any of his staff woke him for any reasons short of crisis, they did so at
considerable peril.
I had seen too many of my colleagues crack under the
immense strain of command in the field not to realise that,
if I were to continue, I must have ample leisure in which to
think, and unbroken sleep ... Generals (read
commanders) who are terribly busy all day and half
the night ... wear out not only their subordinates but
themselves. Nor have they, when the real emergency
comes, the reserve of vigour that will enable them, for
days if necessary, to do with little rest or sleep.
Field Marshal Sir William Slim
Defeat into Victory, 1956
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