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?

Your best option is to learn your installations policies. Fort Carson and 4th ID i had a similar situation happen to me well 4ID policy stated that no formations were to be held in garrison before 0630. Hope you were able to get the help you needed. But you can never go wrong with going to IG and at least asking questions. There are open door policies all the way up the chain of command.

Suck it up buttercup!

I was wondering if you went to combat, what Army regulations could you site to keep the enemy from cutting your head off? Embrace the Suck!!!!!!!

BTW, how long have you been in and how did you make it through bootcamp? I was a hospital man until 1966 when I went to FMF school and became a Marine Corpsman. I spent a year in VietNam with the 1st Marine Division, then I was stationed with the 2nd Marines until I got out. I am sorry you can't do PT because of lack of sleep, so as a Marine I do not understand the problem. I am sure that your Sargent will inspire you to "Be all you can be".

Get up, go to PT then go back to bed, or go to bed AFTER PT. I know when I was in and had the late shift, I didn't go home or to my rack and go to bed right after shift. I stayed up to wind down, just like those on day shift did. When getting off at 0000, bed time for me was usually around 0300 or 0400, and I am pretty sure it is for you as well. So, change your sleep patterns so you go to bed after PT which will still give you ample time (7-8 hours) to sleep before reporting for your duty shift.

For those who are concerned about him being sleep deprived....he isn't complaining about going to work without sleep...just going to PT with "not enough sleep". I wonder what he is doing for the 8 hours or so AFTER PT. And I doubt very much that he is going to bed as soon as he gets off duty, I knew very few, if any, personnel who went directly to the rack after getting off work.....unless they partied all night the night before shift, which I think most of us did at one time or another.

Whether a JR enlisted or not, You are Stuck, deal with it. You joined the military not a civilian club or fraternity. If you are ever deployed in combat, as many have mentioned, you would be glad to have even a couple of hours between "shifts".

Suck it up and go to PT. Things will work out.

Suck it up and go to PT

Man there sure are a bunch of clowns on this page. First of all, functioning on a maximum of 6 hours of sleep is medically unhealthy, which a leader in a hospital should know. ("I function on way less sleep and do just fine" -stop it. There are scientific studies on this, and your anomalous, anecdotal data is unhelpful.)
Second, comparing a deployed schedule to that of in-garrison work days is nonsense. There's a reason you don't spend a career deployed. When you're in garrison, you have more to take care of than work duties. Family, household responsibilities, simply needing to disconnect from military life for a few hours are all critical components of having a healthy force. I would argue just as important as PT.
Finally, for all of you saying, "I had it worse in my day," you're part of the problem. We've had a history of not caring for our service members' mental health, and look where that has gotten us. Quit acting like everything has always worked perfectly and try to affect some positive change every once in a while.

OP: I doubt very much that your 1st Sgt is out to make your life unbearable. Odds are that he identified a problem, and found the quickest fit for the it. He probably isn't aware of how this is affecting your shift, and needs to be educated. Your responsibility in supporting your leaders is to show them when they are making a decision that negatively impacts their troops. You do this respectfully, and by using your chain of command. If the personnel above you will not address your concerns, when laid out in a respectful manner, you have other avenues, like the line above them in the CoC, going directly to your shirt, or, in extreme cases, the IG. Also, I find that it helps to present the problem in terms of a problem for the Army, not a personal issue ("Not getting enough sleep will prevent me from being effective at my job in the medical field, possibly leading to injuries, even death of other soldiers" vs "I'm sleepy and want a nap,") and to come ready with a proposed solution ("my shift could do a unified PT session as a shift at 1430, x-days per week, led by so-and-so.")

Again, for those of you trying to shut down the OP, try asking yourself if you'd rather get blood drawn or have a procedure done on you by someone sleep-deprived, or well rested.

Shut up and go pt

you go

Am I missing something? Work is from 1600-2400. PT is at 0530. That leaves approximately 10 hours between end of PT and start of shift. If you are tired after "only" 4-5 hours of sleep, there is plenty of time to "rest". There is also the possibility that the military is not for you. I can remember falling into my bunk at 0445 and getting up at 0530 to begin a full day's work. Was I tired? Yes, of course. But I did what had to be done. When I signed the enlistment papers I don't remember anything about guaranteed sleep. Just my take on the situation.

What the hell is this? SPC Davis, you're in the Army. Not the Girl Scouts. Quit your damn whining and do your duty. Follow orders. It doesn't matter that you only had 4 or 5 hours of sleep. I am sick and tired of hearing all this whining from people who are supposed to be Soldiers. Stop it all of you.

Why in the he'll did you enlist? Nothing more than a cry-baby-suck-a-tit! Apply for a dishonorable discharge & join up with an ANTIFA/BLM group. I was drafted & didn't run off to Canada or go to Russia & smoke pot!!! The service doesn't need your attitude, disposition or any other BS excuse. Enough time wasted on your personal problem. Go see a Chaplain!! SGT ML '71-77 US ARMY

You go. Problem solved. There will be tougher times and these ‘small’ moments will you prepare you for those future ‘problems’. Don’t be ‘that guy’ in the company/platoon/squad’. You’re a soldier and an adult now. Move on.

Are you kidding me
Suck it up and move forward or roll out

join the USAF

Terrible answers. But it doesn't appear that there is little that can be done to get around it. For one, it begins with the assumption that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. In fact, that does not apply in this case. It also assume that military rule is always right. In fact, this is more likely the idea of a single individual who is allowing his emotions to influence his better judgement.

Just because someone can accomplish a task under stress doesn't make it right or for their benefit. In fact, exercising with insufficient rest is detrimental to your health in many ways and can cause many sometimes serious consequences, including lowering your immune system as well as impairing brain functions such as memory, focus and concentration. It makes military personnel susceptible to unnecessary dangers they would not have experienced otherwise with sufficient rest and recuperation.

When you're tired you're going to make more mistakes, and those mistakes not only effect you, but everyone around you. Overall, this causes more harm than good. People that give these types of uniformed and uneducated orders are the ones largely responsible for the increasing number of heath claims many veteran experience during service and later on in life.

Thing is, they're 100% preventable. This may not be the appropriate venue to correct these errors, but it is certainly an opportunity to learn how to do better in the future than you are doing today or in the past.

effectively and professionally... 1st, you need to keep in mind, he is issuing lawful orders. You could ask to meet with him to defend your position, but if he is adamant, then you will have to disobey a lawful order to have NJP initiated. 2nd, whereupon you can request mast according to the UCMJ. Be sure to name a sufficiently ranked individual in your chain of command to hear your case. There is a time limit within which your superiors must have you in front of that officer.

Just know that there are much worse duties that you could be pulling. Duty driver for example, is often 24 on 24 off, required to be at hand for deliveries of inter office mail during the normal work day, and at a moments notice to convey the Duty OIC, the Duty NCIOC, and even the Duty clerk, to any duty post, office, barracks, BOQ, anywhere they so desire at random times. They only promise 1 meal and 1 hour sleep while on duty.

My suggestion is get used to the new schedule, and learn to get sleep in segments; perhaps switch your sleep to AFTER PT.

"The army is only required to give you 4 hours of sleep a night, and it doesnt have to be 4 continuous hours!" I still remember my drill sergeants telling us this.

Not to beat a dead horse, but it seems like more of an issue of time management. If you're working 1600- midnight (8 hrs) then you have 16 more hours in the day in which to sleep. Change your schedule, you should be waking up around 1400 hours, and hitting the rack after that 0530 pt session, that'll get you a good 7-8 hours of sleep.

Get with your PSG and see if he will get on board with a compromise with the 1SG. Maybe different PT times for different shifts, led by the senior NCO of those shifts. The 1SG doesn't need to micro manage. Your PSG, if on board could get the 1SG to see reason. Other good posts talk about adjusting your own hours. Obviously if you work the night shift, it sucks, but that means you work and do personal time at night, and sleep during the day. Finally, if there is a problem with individuals just not showing up to PT, then it may be a hard lesson for a little while. Bottom line, you are a Soldier, and need to Soldier up. I do think certain priorities should be aligned differently if you are not combat arms. That's my 2 cents.