I am being told to go to PT by the command on only 4-5 hours of sleep. As a junior enlisted, how do I solve this problem?

You get your sorry butt up and pt like you are told. Good lord what has happened to our military.

Feel lucky that you are getting a very reasonable 4-5 hours of sleep per night. If you were in the Infantry you would be working much more with the same amount of sleep and showing up at PT every morning. Suck it up buttercup.

You are junior enlisted. Go to McDonald and get a straw so that you can suck it the fuck up. Unless the order is an unlawful one then you are sworn to follow the orders given. This is one of the many problems that the army has created for itsself: lack of good order and discipline. It's one of the biggest differences that I noticed when I switched from Marine Corps infantry to army infantry. Did we have to do dumb shit that was inconvenient and blatantly stupid in the Marine Corps? Of course we did. Were we happy about it? Absolutely not, and we bitched and griped AMONGST OUR PEERS. Those NCOs and Staff NCOs weren't blind to what was going on, and did what they could to fix it, as that's their job. I learned from it, remembered it, and then when I became an NCO did all that I could to mitigate it from happening to my soldiers.

That's what you need to do: your job. For some reason the latest generation of soldiers seem to think that their job is simply their mos related tasks during business hours, or during "shifts" like a civilian job. Incorrect. Right now your job is to get your ass up and be in PT formation. Your job is to carry out the plan of the day as outlined by your chain of command. Do that. You belong to the Army 24/7, and are granted daily liberty periods. Remember that.

By all means remember this fuckery, and perhaps use it as a reminder in the future when you are in a position to do something about it. But for now, you are not. So take it as a character building experience and drive on.

Whatever you do, do not, DO NOT be that guy. Stay in your lane, keep in mind that your NCOs and Staff NCOs are tracking, realize that it isn't forever, learn from it, and carry on. It's too easy.

Having worked odd hours in a hospital, I can understand your concerns. In my experience, Big Army is not going to change policies to accommodate one Soldier. That said, you mentioned your entire section is on the samue shift. My suggestion would be to approach your PSG or equivalent and see if they would be willing to approach the command about having your entire shift, as a team, conduct organized PT either just before or just after your shift is complete. I'm assuming the commander's intent is to maintain organized PT to ensure fitness, readiness, and accountability. This suggestion would meet all that criteria. Remember, any time you bring a problem to your leadership, ALWAYS bring a solution as well. I can't promise they will agree to it, but it is a reasonable request and the worst they can say is "no". Just remember to be tactful, polite, and professional. I would also recommend bringing it up first with your peers and make it a team effort. This makes it a group issue, rather than an individual one.

Lets just start with the service you're in probably sucks. It doesn't make any sense youre working a swing shift but your command is demanding you show up to a mandatory PT session 5 hours later? Why is there not another PT session to accommodate those that arent on a day shift? Why wouldnt you have PT closer to the time you start because I bet there are minimal complaints for the guys that either work at somewhere between 0600-0800. Hell might be included into their work day knowing the Army. I highly suggest you bring this up but work it up the chain. A lot of idiots are going to tell you to suck it up, when I was coming up, etc bs. You'd really be surprised how many people within your chain that can help and I guarantee someone higher ranking feels the same way you do.its just easier to get things done when you have a majority rule. Worst that can happen is they tell you no or explain to them that it work for better for everyone if either they add a PT slot closer to your work start time or they could move you to a shift closer to the mandated PT shift they already have.

Pretty simple. Get up and go to PT.

Embrace the suck while you solve the problem.

Bring it up to your first line supervisor. If they can't resolve it for you, then suck it up! Welcome to the Army :)

Unbelievable

Go to PT... if you cannot function on 4 to 5 hours sleep find another profession... combat shows no mercy and you have to maintain patient safety in a combat hospital with limited sleep... if you cannot do it here hard to think you can do it when necessary to save Soldiers in combat... if military life is not for you that is fine... thank you for your service... however it is time to find something more suited to your sleep schedule and personnel choices... one of those values is selfless service where you put the needs of the command, the service, and others over yourself... not self service...

Your Company Commander and First Sergeant sound like they have come from line units without previous experience with multi shift Soldiers. Good leadership adopts, it’s not one size fits all. Just because you can doesn’t always mean you should. This is a good way to alienate young Soldiers. I’ve seen this before. You are in a tough spot.

Why is there a 1600 PT session, who attends that?

Is there a 3rd Shift or 0000 to 0800?

When I was on active duty, I worked your same shift as a computer operator. Our scheduled PT time was 1400. That gave us hygiene time then do shift changeover before 1600.

How many Soldiers staff that same shift with you?

Is this a suggestion that you can bring up with your first line supervisor as a compromise?

Working that shift is not an excuse for not participating in PT. You need to participate.

Get up go to PT then take a nap. When on perimeter guard in NAM we went from 6pm-to 6am at 50% then went to our gun trucks an gun jeeps and worked till 5 and back to the perimeter. were assigned for 2 weeks at a time.

Wow you are a little bitch.

Stop being a little bitch.

When on deployment as a hospital corpsman, i did not have a shift, my duty was 24-7 and my marines health and welfare was first and foremost. Many a night was spent caring for injured and sick individuals. Pt helps to build the strength you will need to carry your comrades and builds the warrior ethos that will help you to fight when necessary to protect those who are injured.

The PT Program is the 1SG's Program. If you have a legitimate reason to gripe although you have a choice of two separate PT formations you can make, then use the NCO Chain of Command. There are a lot of heated comments on here but I'll defer to a comment I heard back when I was on Active Duty (yes I have achieved the status of "old Soldier" as I entered the Army in 1974), "Its the ARMY, its supposed to Suck sometimes!" Having four or fiver hours of sleep before doing PT won't kill you. Its all part of the life. Shift work is its own animal but Soldiers have been dealing with shift work in a lot of disciplines (MP, Intel in Field Stations etc) for a loooonnnggg time. Deal with it and take comfort that "This too, shall Pass". The new PT Test sounds pretty challenging. Its the 1SGs job ot make sure you pass it....or at least have a fighting chance.

Sleep after PT. In my day, everybody formed up at 0600 for Battery PT unless you had the duty.

Maybe you should go to the 1SG and ask if you can do PT from 1430 to 1530 so you will have time to get ready for shift at 1600.

If you're getting 4 or 5 hours sleep, you're one of the lucky ones. Lots of people get even less due to work schedules and other requirements. Even when not required I regularly slept for 4 hours, 5 on occasion, and got up for the purpose of exercising. This was all before retiring more than 20 years ago. I still only get 4 or 5 a night but I don't run any longer, I walk my dogs. Everyone goes through periods of what you're complaining about. Eventually it'll be someone else's turn to be inconvenienced by a little lack of sleep.

Go to the IG. Or open door to the company commander first.