Re: [OT]Question for combat veterans

Speaking for myself, not so much age, as practice. Some of it is
age-independent - I can remember sleeping in snatches while marching
back on
a cold December night from a field exercise when I was a cadet in ROTC
at
age 19 or so. And I remember being amazed at the time that I could sleep
while marching and toting about 60 pounds of gear. When I left the army
after 12 years service at age 34, I usually "slept" in the field by
grabbing
10-15 minute naps while travelling in my vehicle or during brief lulls,
whenever I got the chance. It probably added up to maybe two hours out
of
24, but I felt reasonable well rested.	And as I said, I'd ignore the
radio(s) unless I heard my call sign, in which case I was instantly
awake -
which I don't remember being able to do as a 2nd LT.
----- Original Message -----
From: <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au>
To: <gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2002 5:57 PM
Subject: RE: [OT]Question for combat veterans

> G'day,
>
> > I don't know about "combat sleep" but I do this on
> > field problems.  It's pretty common.  Once you're in
> > for a little while, you develop the ability to sleep
> > standing up, walking around with your eyes open,
> > sitting on a metal bench next to a diesel engine, or
> > whatever is necessary.
>
> Actually this sounds like parenthood ;P
>
> Seriously do you see an improvement in the ability with age? There's a
> mechanism in children/adolescents that prevents them waking in this
way
(so
> siblings won't disturb them), but I'm yet to find any clear work on
whether
> there is a hard turn off age on this. Could be an issue in young
soldiers
> (probably younger than recruiting age for western armies) I guess.
>