Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Sleep At Marine Boot Camp

By John Canfield


One of the most commonly asked questions regarding Marine Boot Camp is how much sleep recruits get when they're in training. Most young men and women are familiar with getting at least 8-10 hours of sleep per night, and for some lucky people, they were able to get much more than that prior to joining the military. Many teens and young adults prefer to fall asleep late at night, often well after midnight, and waken late in the day time, or even early afternoon.

Sleeping in does not occur at Marine Recruit Training. Most evenings, taps is played at 2100 hours, which is equivalent to 9:00 p.m. In some cases recruits will be allowed or required to stay awake until 2200 or 10:00 p.m. at certain phases during training. These are instances when there are certain significant tasks that must be accomplished. There are actually very few times during Marine Boot Camp when recruits won't get to sleep prior to 2200. The few exceptions will occur when the platoon is out in the field training or bivouacing in a training area. Reveille, or wake up call, is sounded at 0500 or 5:00 a.m. on most mornings while in garrison. During field exercises there are certain situations where recruits will receive 4 hours or less of sleep per night, based on the current training event.

After lights-out, recruits are required to remain in their racks until the lights come back on, unless they are up using the head, on fire-watch, or instructed by a Drill Instructor. Apart from those conditions, recruits aren't able to be up and roaming about the squad bay or mingling with the recruits to their left or right, or their rack mates.

Recruits are intended to receive 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night while at boot camp with a few exceptions. Fire watch is one of these exceptions. At night, meaning after taps and before reveille, there will always be a Marine on fire watch. This is normally one or two recruits that are assigned the task of watching the squad bay while the rest of the platoon sleeps. Fire watches will also typically conduct other required tasks such as washing, making lists, organizing the area, or preparing unit gear for an upcoming training event.

Sleep is extremely important during Marine Boot Camp. The rigorous schedule is quite stressful and requires a lot of strength and endurance to perform well. A disciplined sleep schedule helps recruits complete the arduous responsibilities that they face everyday.




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