Fatigue Management

commanders and staff officers who are fixated on operational matters to the
exclusion of all else. Therefore, the effects of fatigue and sleep loss must be
continually monitored in subordinates, colleagues and superiors. Advice for
monitoring and gauging the effects of fatigue are given on pages 76-77.
Emphasized above all is the firepower in the human spirit
when it is both daringly exploited and intelligently
conserved. To push men to the limit - but to understand the
limit - in this lies the touchstone of success in the fighting
life or any other.
S.L.A. Marshall
Sinai Victory, 1958
Judging the Limits of Endurance. Perhaps there is no more critical
function of command than using all available human resources as closely as
possible to the limits of endurance without overstepping the mark. Such
judgement is a complex skill, and its cultivation is problematic as many of the
issues already discussed; misconceptions about immunity to fatigue,
competing priorities, and a culture of toughness and self-denial, can interfere
with relevant learning opportunities during training. The ability to
accurately assess the capabilities of personnel can be compromised by several
aspects of organisational culture and human nature. For example, it is a
common feature of organisations that leaders are shielded from bad news. In
addition, commanders are often preoccupied with other matters and may
simply assume that their own morale is reflected in their subordinates, rather
than actively and objectively attempting to gauge the psychological status of
personnel. A classic study in the Swedish Army showed that the higher the
rank level, the less accurate commanders' judgements were about their own
unit climate issues (such as morale and cohesion) yet the more confident they
were in their judgements. This ‘double jeopardy' is another obstacle to sound
command judgement.
But, as often occurs in an exhausting withdrawal, alarm
increased in proportion to the distance from the front line.
Commanders are older and less resilient than the men in
the battalions; they and their staffs see much of the
wounded and non-combatant troops and are apt to judge
the condition of the front-line troops, perhaps still holding
firmly, by the condition of the shaken men seen in the rear
areas.
Gavin Long
Greece, Crete and Syria, 1953
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