Military work/rest regulations?

Question

I will try this again. The last time I asked this question it appeared that some answers were given thinking that I am against something. I am an NCO trying to take care of my soldiers. On a resent mission of a non-combat nature, where no lives were in danger, I felt those higher did not take the soldiers care into their planning process. We are now into three battles within the military, Iraq, Afganistan, and the battle of retention/referral. If we as NCO's don't fight for our soldiers, they will not stay in or recommend others to join. I felt my soldiers were being overworked on a mission of policital inportance. My question is again, what is the regulation regarding hours worked to time required for rest, both mental and physical. The Army has rules to follow like any other organization, just finding them are hard. Example, 24 hours on 24 hours off in a non-combat mission. How many days straight can they wor before we have to get them some mental as well as physical rest.

Answer 1

I can't provide FM or AR references, but as I understand it during standard duty (ie non-combat assignments) the standard day may be up to 12 hours. The soldier should be afforded the opportunity for 8 hours of uninterupted sleep. During combat assignments the standard day can be extended to 16 hours, longer with command (Battalion level or higher) authority.

Certain duites, (flight crews for example) have a crew rest matrix. There duty is limited due to the risk factors involved in their missions. The work/rest periods are determined based on the duties performed, I.E. day flights, night flights, night vison device flights etc....

In short as an NCO in charge of troops it is your duty to inform your chain of command when you feel your troops are being mistreated or over worked. It is also your responsiblity to ensure that the mission is completed. It is a very fine line we must walk, and sometimes we have to realize that we don't have access to all the information used to make the mission decisions.

Your troops will understand that you are doing your best as long as you reinforce the core values, and support the chain of command. Never ever tell your subordinates that this mission is stupid etc, even if it is. That conversation is for you and your supervisor........

Good order and discipline are the key. Keep your troops informed as much as possible, and provide feed back up the chain. If it is something you feel really strongly about, send it up the chain......

Answer 2

I dont know exactly how the Army works but in the AF we have what is called crew rest. Not all jobs have this but mine a few others do. What it comes down to is the most you can work is 12 hours and then you must have an undisturbed 8 hours to rest. They usually use crew rest for jobs that are either in high stress or the ones that have a critical mission. I know the longest worked agency we have in the AF is prob the fire department because they work 24 on 24 off. This is prob not the same as the Army though cause the FD are allowed to sleep and rest until a call comes in.

Sorry I couldnt help you more but I figured means you didnt have any answers I would add mine. I am an NCO as well and to me the most important part of the mission is to make sure the people below you or around you are prepared to do the mission.

Answer 3

I am a retired Command Sergeant Major and have voiced the same concerns that you are bringing up. There is absolutely no definitive documentation that I am aware of that places numeric values on the amount of time worked vs rest periods. I was told that because of mission orientation that these items were best left to the commander of the troops in question. Everything in the military begs the question. If you are needed at any time you are available. However there is a point that morale and effectiveness break down as we saw in WW2 with the German soldiers who were stretched too thin and as a result quit battle in large numbers.

Answer 4

I know when I was in the Air Force certain jobs were 12 on 12 off while others were 16 on 8 off depending on how critical your job was. As far as how many days in a row they can work you like that without having time off....as far as I konw is as long as they need to. When I was deployed for Kosovo we were like that for months.

Answer 5

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