Sleep Deprivation at USNA

EfusaurusRex said:
Wait they have headphone privileges now?! :eek2: My NASS detailer told me he couldn't listen to music on his headphones as a Plebe because it was against some rule. I've been dreading not getting to occasionally listen to Metallica...until now:D
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The plebes do not rate Media except for 12-24 on Saturday.

For the actual topic, as a current mid I have to agree that as I get further into my time at the academy I get less sleep. Academics do not get easier, and the leadership and company responsibilities increase. I would like to think that I get about the average amount of sleep with 5-6 hours a night. Plebe year I was a varsity athlete and had morning formation excusals as well as a first period blocker. That was the most sleep I have ever gotten with about 8 hours a night.
 
As an OG, I actually think letting Plebes sleep during the day is great. The one cautionary thing and thing I would watch as an upperclass... Plebes who stay up all night, sleep in class and then nap for 2-3 hours after class. Its a vicious cycle tons of Mids get in.
 
My Wife and I traveled back to the East Coast for a quick visit with our CL 2020 DD back in October. We arrived on Friday and she couldn't leave the Yard until after the home FB game on Saturday. 8 pm Friday night she asked us to pick up some food and meet her on the Yard. She was having trouble finding time to eat, ----(she is still struggling with USNA diet, but that’s another story).

We picked up some food, met her on the Yard, and sat down to talk. The subject of schoolwork and grades came up. She said she was doing really well and then laughed. "Looks like I'm gonna get a B in Chem. I know the stuff Dad; I've been helping other Plebes with Chem all quarter. I just fell asleep during a quiz and got an F." Now, I've fallen asleep studying for a test, and I have fallen asleep writing papers, but the idea of falling asleep immediately following the adrenalin pumping moment of receiving a test!? DD went on to say that she'd fallen asleep during a Constitutional History test also. Better results, on the Con Hist test, she came around with some time left and essays are her thing. She has practice 3 hours a day so maybe she's a little worse off than some, but will you be sleep deprived? ----YA THINK??
 
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A few decades later I can still sleep anywhere. The last flight I did the flight attendant complimented my ability to sleep before we took off and wake up on command of touch down. As a basketball player at USNA we spent countless hours sleeping on busses and airplanes for 5 months of the school year. I could fall asleep in formation as a Plebe. If you watch a Plebe Summer uniform inspection you can see the Plebes sleeping standing up as they start to sway. I pretty much spent 4 years at USNA guzzling water, chewing gum or eating life savers or standing up to stay awake in class. Never fell asleep on a test except the language validation.
 
DH and I took the overnight Auto Train to Florida a year ago. We both slept like babies in the bunks with thin mattresses and blankets, non-stop train motion, train whistle, people making noise in the corridor, stateroom and rail car door sounds. Great way to get auto, selves and a trunk full of Christmas presents to Orlando (Sanford) from NoVa (Lorton). We recommended it to our neighbors who snowbird in FL a month every winter. They tried but confessed they didn't sleep at all and arrived exhausted. We realized our Navy lives had given us that lifelong skill and apologized. Ditto Hoops' experience on planes. I am usually asleep before take-off, setting the mental alarm to wake up and use the head before everyone else gets in line.
 
I averaged about 4 hours of sleep on weekdays my first semester at USMA and got a GPA above 4.0. Your body just adjusts to it, I never fell asleep in any of my classes, didn't take caffeine either.
 
Part of your military training, while in an academy or ROTC program or plain old Basic, is to learn to push beyond what you thought were your limits. By the end you'll be amazed that the limits you thought you used to have are no longer there.

If you think you won't be sleep deprived on "the battlefield", wherever you battlefield is, you are sadly mistaken.
 
forumjunkie said:
One thing that always gets me is when my son would often call Sunday night "the off day" at about 8:30pm Eastern time. Because he was "Killing time", didn't feel like studying, and trying to stay awake for a 10pm on the side walk briefing for the next week. 10pm Briefing? on a Sunday? I am a morning person and that just blows my mind!
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On ship the screw never stops turning, that is, the propeller. The mids need to get use to working all hours, standing midnight watches, and having midday rack time. Don't be concern, they are young and strong.
 
Skegs said:
On ship the screw never stops turning, that is, the propeller. The mids need to get use to working all hours, standing midnight watches, and having midday rack time. Don't be concern, they are young and strong.
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Oh I wasn't particularly concerned, but have you ever tried making conversation for an hour and a half with a Kid that grunts like a caveman but doesn't want to hang up. I'm not complaining mind you there are many a parent out there that would kill for that call. My point really was that it is a long and demanding schedule, but even my long sleeping son adjusted fine.

In fact I think most people underestimate what they can adjust too and cope with if it is necessary.
 
My DS has a schedule that somehow has room for a couple of 1 hour naps a week. He says that helps a lot. Then he catches up some on the weekends.
 
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