Yes, all of the allies did. I think most people think it was just a German thing though.
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Falling asleep in combat
- Thread starter The Basket
- Start date
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Yes, all of the allies did. I think most people think it was just a German thing though.
The British used about 20 million doses during the battle of al-alamein. The German stimulant was an methamphetamine over the counter medication in Germany and I presume most countries.
The dosage used to keep soldiers alert was less than 0.2% of the amount used by junkies to get a high. The "Nazis on crystal meth' sensationalism used to sell books, push agendas and click bait has nothing to do with reality. They weren't on a high or hallucinating nor was their behaviour erratic or more violent and no one became an addict. They weren't on a high, they were likely fatigued and sleep deprived. (an issue for German soldiers who received far less R&R or rotation then British or American) US forces also used it, but they used a slightly more potent form known as amphetamine admitedly after noticing that the Germans were using it. Much of the pervatin German soldiers used was purchased and sent to them in their personnel mail by family or friends rather than issued. I have heard of one German solider addicted to methamphetamine but he was a doctors who self prescribed to stay awake as casualties came in around the clock. That was apparently common. You can sympathise as he had a choice of going to sleep and letting someone bleed out or or take the drug he had access to and keep working.
It's fairly obvious you cant rob peter to pay paul and in the long run exhaustion must come, hopefully at a better time.
As far as I known the modern military uses it as well.
We were issued stimulants in Iraq to keep us alert and awake when we switched from day shift to night shift temporarily for just one night to fly air assaults. I never took it though.
"Short term gain, long term loss" - Cars
Thumpalumpacus
Major
Could have something to do with that band, too, lol.
It was sometimes hard to stay awake doing an oh-dark-thirty upload standby. My crew-chief and I would sometimes take turns dozing, which was strictly against regs, but an idling diesel and a tired brain are a somnolent coupling.
Fell asleep once standing up, against a hangar wall at Loring during the "wait" part of hurry up and wait while transiting to Desert Storm. It was the first shuteye I'd caught in well over 24 hours, lasted about 15 minutes when the AF decided I'd gotten enough and hustled us aboard the -135. Grrr.
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I was never in the Military but have worked long hours, 24hr+ as well as long 2-4 week stretches and remember once waking up leaning against the rear counter weight inside a Liebherr digger with an oil filter in one hand and the spanner in the other, I looked around to see if anyone saw me and sure enough the other mechanic was asleep on the other side of the engine with his head resting against the block. I don't know how we survived some of the things we did as young kids.
If you enquire with the police there are certain times of day when people randomly crash cars, early hours of the morning is an obvious time, but also between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, people just fall asleep at the wheel after lunch.
Wildcat
Major
I always found stand-to at dawn the hardest. Little sleep the night before and then awake before dawn to man weapon pits - not hard to fall asleep against the butt of your rifle. The fear of being caught asleep by an NCO usually kept me from nodding off.
Studies have shown that going too long without sleep can impair your ability to drive the same way as drinking too much alcohol. Being awake for at least 18 hours is the same as someone having a blood content (BAC) of 0.05%. Being awake for at least 24 hours is equal to having a blood alcohol content of 0.10%.
I will tell you straight up that a lack of sleep has a massive effect on your body, I have seen blokes turn up for work after a week of continuous shifts with two left boots on, their clothes inside out, watch them walk straight into doors and even hallucinate.
special ed
2nd Lieutenant
- 5,654
- May 13, 2018
A friend's father who had arrived in Japan just after the surrender was used mostly as sentry duty around supplies and equipment. One job he told of, was to man a Japanese pill box at the end of a runway. As newer young, mostly teens, arrived they they were assigned these duties. He said at night it was common for the two men to sleep in the very small pillbox leaving their rifles outside. He and some of the older teens who by now had achieved a little rank would slip down to the site at night and throw in a grenade fuse, the sound of which every one knew, and when the two on duty came running out, were welcomed with shouts of "Mister where is your rifle?" as well as other choice comments.
3 months of straight of 14-15 hour days of 7 days weeks of commissioning at a mine site where equipment had not been FAT tested properly left me short of sleep. That happened 4 times in 2 years, I being to young and to naive to tell people to get effed carried on. It seemed to take years to overcome the health issues it caused. I would get a Friday Night and Saturday of once per month but it wasn't enough. Short term memory was badly effected. I've heard it argued that the damage may be permanent.
I watched a documentary program on obesity on a long Emirates flight from Sydney to Dubai. In it a USN SEAL Doctor who had been a SEAL, sent of to do a medical degree and then re-joined the SEALs explained that many of them were developing weight problems. So here are some of the most determined men on the planet unable to control weight gain. His studies showed that the sleep deprivation on the job means the hippocampus of the brain does not cleanse itself of neurotransmitter breakdown products build up during sleep and thus becomes insensitive to the hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin. This part of the brain also manages memory organisation.
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Glider
Captain
In the Falklands the air crews were given medication to help them rest, but never anything to keep them awake
yosimitesam
Airman 1st Class
I fell asleep driving home one summer when I was in my college years. The results of a late night party the night before followed by a 10-hour shift at my summer job. (The party was legendary, BTW.) It was 1:00AM and I had been fighting sleep all the way home (about 40 minute drive.) I was only a mile from home. I woke up instantly with the crash and bang and glass flying everywhere when I left the road. I hit the side my head on something (never did figure out what) but when the noise stopped and there was nothing but dead quiet except for a soft hissing sound, I was "instantaneously" surrounded by a dozen people peering in my car and talking to me. I mean instantly. There they were, just appearing out of nowhere. I thought "what were these people doing standing near the road at 1 in the morning?...". That was how fast it seemed that they showed up. I noticed one lady (in whose yard I ended up) in a housecoat and others who looked hurriedly dressed. I thought "what were all you people doing outside this late standing by the road... some kind of party?". Of course, I had undoubtedly knocked myself out for 1-2 minutes and the people (it was in a small town) had awakened and exited their nearby homes when they heard the crash. You could not have convinced me of that at the time because NO time elapsed (in my brain) between the crash and all these people peering in my car with flashlights and asking me if I was alright, etc. I felt I had been concious the whole time. My car was totalled and did substantial damage to the the lady's magnolia tree that stopped me. (The tree lived on, with a scar.) To this day, I remember well my thoughts: "Well, there goes my car. But, where did all these people come from out the dark????? Creepy."
swampyankee
Chief Master Sergeant
- 4,020
- Jun 25, 2013
It's a good thing you woke up when you did. They may have been hungry.....
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I had rather similar experience when I went over the handlebars of my bicycle (my helmet was smashed, which probably saved me from a depressed skull fracture). When I looked up, a couple were looking down at me, asking if I was alright. Cleverly, I said "sure." Of course, I had just had a concussion and was most certainly not alright.
Thumpalumpacus
Major
Not showing up for me, bud.
