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?

Used to walk out of the club in Hawaii at 4am, taxi to the barracks, switch to PTs, and go max an APFT at 0530. 4-5 hours a sleep was a blessing! And that was stateside. Wait until you're deployed and you're working 14-18 hour days 7 days a week and having extra duties as a SGT since you've got that (P) next to your rank. It will only get tougher.

Only 5 showed up for PT? Your joking. Doesn't sound like any American military but rather a Russian outfit hanging out in the park with a bottle of vodka. Not the military that won the wars but certainly one that can never win a war on the ground

4-5 hours of sleep is more then enough, I can bet my house that you have been out drinking with your buddies until closing, and then PT'ed at 0600. Suck it up buttercup, you get to go back home after PT and sleep some more.

Do not question, just do it!!! Wayne R Price

You mean to tell me you get that much sleep and are complaining?

As a Retired Hospital Corpsman (green), I really don’t feel for you. I won’t give you old sea stories but you volunteered for a seven day work week. Out of my 21 years in the Navy, I spent 16 of those years with the Marines and did what the Marines wanted plus my Medical Duties.

So Davis, I have worked shift so I am not unsympathetic as getting to bed before the sun rises really does help you sleep. I did get it resolved favorably. But before you do you need to get rid of this barracks lawyer mindset there is no regulations that will magically get you out of this. I promise that your Chain of command will tell you you have plenty of time to sleep after PT at 0700.

Now how to resolve this in your favor. I see you have a (P) after your name act like it. You need to go to your first line NCO and propose a solution. I would recommend you conduct PT at 1400 hours outside of the company area were 1SG can see you. 1SGs love seeing their guys do PT. And by you I mean you take charge and you take responsibility. Offer to conduct attendance and write a schedule for PT. This is good training for a future NCO and maybe a good point on an NCOER. You will be held to account for your shift missing PT and/or falling PT scores if this happens.

When I was in Vietnam there were days I went with out sleep when I was able to get some sleep I slept in mud, in the rain, where ever I could if you have to go into battle you will not be asked how much sleep do you need to fight look at it this way you’re being trained to adapt.

And? What is your point?

Welcome to being a responsible adult. You don't "sound like" you are whining, you "are whining". I remember months at sea, between watch standing , daily work, and special details like General Quarters Drill, or Underway Replenishment, that we went on much less sleep than that.

Time to grow up and act like an adult. And if you think this is bad, don't ever have children.

Unit PT for hospital personnel was always a problem. A chunk of your staff work during the night and just can't PT @ 0530 as they are still on duty. I was ordered to set up a Departmental PT and ended up have two PT shifts, two days a week for the 0600 and 1600 PTs. I received permission to cancel as we had too much work to do, work which affects patient care trumps PT.

Retired Navy Chief here. I don’t want to sound like some of the old-timers here and tell you to suck it up and that I had to work 25 hours a day, eight days a week for 32 days a month my whole 20 years in the Navy. I will tell you however, when I was in submarines sometimes we were loading nuclear ballistic missiles after 30 hours of working straight getting everything ready. And we had to stand guard nuclear weapons security guard duty topside with shotguns sometimes under 90F, 100% humidity, or freezing rain without head or chow breaks for hours because we didn’t have enough people to relieve us. Nuclear. Weapons. But nobody required us to do PT after working 14-18 hour days for 3 weeks straight, thank God. But I digress. Maybe your unit CO can ask for independent PT for unit members on a trust basis. I understand that PT is the religious ceremony equivalent for the Army and that it brings about unit cohesion and preparedness. But the rigid and close-minded mentality without allowing any exceptions for essential personnel that are fighting a different war -as in your case- is something that I never understood from the Army. Hopefully it will not take a major medical mishap or accident, I got for a bit what are you doing guys getting infected and dying from CovidFor your leader ship to realize The need for flexibility. Good luck!

Sleep whenever you can eat whenever you can. If you choose to stay out all night and expect a break when it's time for PT you're delusional, it won't happen. Four or five hours of sleep should be more than enough to do what needs to be done, stop the sniveling.

We don't want pussy troops like you suck it baby- there's very little sleep in combat buttercup.

Are your shifts not on a rotation? Meaning that for a week or two you're 1600 - 0000, then 0000 - 0800 followed by 0800-1600? If not, someone isn't running their unit properly. One thing is for sure, though...the Harmony Church Soldier is gone forever. Sad, really sad.

I will only say this. I was in a Special Forces Training unit and you got what sleep you could, when you could anywhere you could. Then I deployed to Viet Nam with 101st Airborne divisions in a recon unit. We probably had 3-5 hours in a 24 hour day for days on end. The best thing you can do is to tough it out and then get out. I would not say a word about this.

Suck it up buttercup! Run 4/32 every morning with no sleep, wussy

I think Command policies mostly are legitimate to prepare soldiers for War. "Hazing" however, is different where your squad or platoon is just messing with your mind with a traditional practice for fun sake.
Servicemembers prepare for WAR and must adhere to Command policies that mirror War preparation.
The Armed Forces isn't the YMCA or Boy Scouts.

How close are you to ETS? I would use that as leverage.

You show up and do your best. If anyone comments you let them know you're doing the best you can on the amount of sleep you're getting. They can't fault you for that. However, you can certainly get in a world of trouble if you don't show up.