September 2,
2008: Seven years of combat operations
have forced the U.S. Air Force to pay more attention to fatigue. That's because
in a combat situation, more troops have to deal with unexpected surges in
activity by working double shifts and overnight. This leads to people getting drowsy
and inattentive. The air force has found the midnight to dawn activity the most
likely to cause inattention and error. This has been a particular problem with
Predator and Reaper UAV operators, who are based in the United States. The UAVs are eight or more time zones away, so
mid-day combat operations mean UAV operators have to be on their toes in the
drowsy pre-dawn hours. The problem also applies to maintenance personnel
running a 24/7 operation to support the higher sortie rates often encountered
in the combat zone, and to headquarters troops, who have to maintain a war room
full of large flat screen displays and many computer programs and radios
chugging away with reports of who is doing what to who.
The air
force has told its pre-dawn warriors to change their work time diet (more
protein, less sugar), take exercise breaks (a dozen sit-ups will do wonders for
your attention span), and more chatter with your fellow workers, as well as
more checking on each others work.
Troops are
also warned to stay away from "alertness" drugs, as these can
backfire (when you crash) at an inopportune time. The air force has a lot of
experience with this, as a major problem in modern warplane operations is pilot
fatigue. This is particularly the case in the U.S. Air Force, which often sends
aircraft out on missions that can take 12, 24 or more hours to complete.
Actually, the problem is an old one, dating back to World War II. Then, as now,
the cure has been dextroamphetamine (speed). Air force pilots have come to call
this drug "go pills", and they are basic equipment for pilots who
operate long range aircraft.
But one
problem with the go pills is that they make some pilots more aggressive. For
heavy bomber and transport pilots, this is not much of a problem. But for
fighter pilots it can cause some errors in judgment (as with the F-16 bombing
Canadian troops in Afghanistan six years ago.) The air force has tried to find
new drugs that lack the bad side effects. One that showed promise was Modafinil
(sold as Provigil). This stuff is described as a mood-brightening and
memory-enhancing psychostimulant which enhances wakefulness and vigilance. It
sounded promising, and the tests showed that pilots that took Modafinil saw
their performance degraded 15-30 percent, versus 60-100 percent for those who
took nothing at all after 24 hours of being awake. These tests had pilots in
simulated cockpits for up to 37 hours, and performing realistic flight chores
periodically (which were measured, producing a rating for pilot performance).
While the Modafinil did a pretty good job, the dextroamphetamine ("go
pills") was still a bit better. So the air force made Modafinil available
as an acceptable alternative to dextroamphetamine, particularly for fighter
pilots (who might need their moods brightened, in addition to being kept
awake.) Pilots were also warned that Modafinil often works without users being
aware that they are cranked (as one tends to be when taking speed.) So the
search for the perfect go pill continues. And the danger of "pre-dawn
madness" remains.
