how do army men or other millitary officials stay awake on there own?

Question

Im just curious but does anyone know how a government operative manages to stay awake for long periods of time when stuck in situations where they must stay awake. For example, lets say one of our soldiers gets caught and is being held hostage in an undisclosed area. However he must stay awake or else he will miss important signals from allies on how to escape. So what would he do to keep himself awake?

Answer 1

During basic training soldiers are constantly subjected to sleep deprivation, so they are instilled with a sense of discipline that allows them to do what needs to be done regardless of how tired they feel (to a point)
Also when in a "tough situation" adrenaline usually keeps you going.

Answer 2

actually this question is more medical.
Think of it this way.. the person is young.. the person can stay awake far longer than an older person.
The person has been thru their recruit/basic training. they are trained to be awake for hours on end with endless assualts to themselves. Kinda like an intern before he gets his doctorate.
They are continuely stressed with the shouting yelling and other things. this kicks up the adrenal glands, because the brain said it had to be so. The soldier/marine learns to react instead of thinking.
The body becomes accustomed to this activity and responds the way it is supposed to.
He/She stays awake because they have been trained to and because their body knows it has to.
That's what the training is all about and when you are young and can learn those things easily it becomes second nature to you.

Answer 3

I just got out of the army this past nov. and i just returned from my 2nd tour in Iraq this past september. I was in the Infantry, a squad leader, and to answer your question, we stayed awake simply because we didn't want to miss a chance for a firefight. But alot of the time myself and my gunner would stay awake while the other guys got some needed rack time, i let my driver sleep the most so he wouldn't run us off the road because he was tired. I would usualy switch out with my gunner so he was sitting up top all night, until we had to move.

Answer 4

Mostly sheer determination. My son is a Army Ranger & they gave them 2-3 hours sleep for most of the 9 week leadership training. You slept when they said you could & stayed awake when they said you must. Aren't our bodies amazing they can make themselves stay awake if needed? Usually, anyway.

Answer 5

i'm an ex-marine, they give you some type of pills that keep you awake and when you haven't eaten. One of my friends got an addiction to it, though. and he came back with his mind all screwed up. well pretty much with the help of war environments. but yea, he grew some dependency towards it! it's true though, I trained at the MCRD in san diego. and they keep you awake for as long as they want, they put you on firewatch/watch guard during the night, and just deprive you sooo much that you'll learn that self-discipline and use it in a combat zone.

Answer 6

the fact that he is held hostage? I wouldnt be able to fall asleep knowing the terrorists are next door.

Answer 7

Assuming you don't have any caffeine, you do whatever you can to keep the blood flowing. If physically able to, I would stand up most of the time.and walk around as much as possible.

Answer 8

You'd be amazed at what 5min of sleep can do for someone.

They sleep, but for very short periods of time.

Answer 9

You stay awake by having sex with the WAC's!

Answer 10

in my experience in Submarine life....lots and lots of coffee...! we even took caffeine pills by the handful..! later you crash and sleep for days..! but be careful...too much caffeine can give you kidney stones!!