Spiritual Minded Military Montana Air National Guard: Why Airmen Can't Sleep After Drills — The REM Disruption Protocol
The Exhaustion Nobody Understands
Drill weekend at Great Falls Air National Guard Base ends. You are driving home to Billings, Missoula, or Butte. After falling into bed, you are tired. Your body is tired. You're thinking too quickly. You cannot sleep.
Monday morning arrives. You're feeling worse than Sunday night. Tuesday comes. You're still exhausted. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. The following drill weekend comes, and you don't feel like you have fully recovered.
Your husband or wife is not on the same page. Your fellow civilians don't "get it." Your commander doesn't know. There is not an obvious state of exhaustion. It's a very real exhaustion.
A Montana Air National Guard airman is anything but lazy. The airman is not weak in the knees. The airman's sleep cycle has been usurped.
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Why Montana Airmen Are Always Tired
Montana can be a tough place to recover from. Great Falls is more than 3,500 ft. above sea level. The air is thin. The body becomes more efficient at oxygenating. The already drained airman fights even harder.
The distances are vast. You drive for hours and hours and hours to drill. Riding hours home. The recovery time is reduced by the travel time. The airman that should be sleeping is on the highway.
The winters are very harsh. It is dark early. Staying in the house, you are kept indoors by the cold. Fatigue is worsened by the seasonal depression. The enemy is the ally of Montana's environment.
C-130s are flown by the 120th Airlift Wing. The 219th RED HORSE Squadron constructs runways in out-of-the-way areas. The airmen practice rigorously. The airmen are deployed frequently. The airmen return home tired. There never is a respite from the fatigue.
For the complete guide to understanding how environment compounds fatigue, read From Battle Ready to Burned Out: What the Maryland National Guard Won't Tell You About Cellular Logistics.
The Hidden Battle Inside Your Sleep Cycle
There is not one sleep. Sleep has stages. REM is the most important one. When the brain consolidates memories, it is during REM sleep. During REM sleep, the brain purges away waste. REM sleep is the time that the brain rebuilds itself.
The airman who doesn’t get REM sleep is not only tired; they are tired. If the airman doesn't get REM sleep, he or she can't think clearly. The airman who misses out on REM sleep is unable to control emotion. An airman who fails to get REM sleep cannot learn from mistakes.
Drill weekend disrupts the REM sleep. Tension remains on the edge. The schedule is not certain. The sleeping area is not familiar. On his return home, the airman finds himself already in REM debt. The debt accumulates when you don't sleep well, night after night.
For the recovery framework that addresses sleep debt, read Weekend Warrior, Weekday Wreck: The North Carolina Guard Logistics Solution No One Gave You.
What Is REM Sleep and Why Does It Matter?
REM sleep is the deep part of the pool! The brain is engaged. The body is paralyzed. The eyes move quickly in the back of the closed lid. From here come the dreams.
There are three important functions performed during REM sleep.
First, it processes emotions. Drill weekend stress must be put to bed. If your stress stays raw, then you are not getting REM sleep. The airman is still on his guard.
Second, it reduces memory consumption. The training received during drill weekend needs to be saved. The training is lost without REM sleep. The airman is unable to recall what he has learned.
Third, it eliminates metabolic wastes. Waste is produced by the brain during the day. It is flushed out during REM sleep. If you don't get REM sleep, the waste builds up. The end result is brain fog.
He who doesn't get enough REM sleep is not human. The airman is still alive. Not thriving.
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The Top Causes of REM Sleep Disruption
Lack of regular schedule: There is no set-up time for the drill weekend. The airman goes to sleep at various times. The body does not know when to go into REM.
Caffeine: An airman takes a drink of the coffee to keep him or her alert. Caffeine inhibits REM sleep. The afternoon's airman, who drinks coffee, robs tonight of REM sleep.
Alcohol: The airman takes a drink to help unwind. Alcohol fragments sleep. The airman loses consciousness but does not enter a REM state. Nonsense sleep.
Screens: Phone blue light inhibits melatonin. The airman who rolls his eyes before going to sleep tells his brain that it is still day time.
Stress: The cortisol associated with drill weekend remains elevated. The body does not have enough time to get into a deep sleep.
The 120th Airlift Wing airman who disregards these causes will never be able to recover.
How Stress, Alerts, and Military Life Affect Sleep
The military teaches you how to get up when you hear the tiniest noise. The skill is life-saving! The very skill takes away sleep too.
If the airman sleeps with one eye open, he does not go into REM. The body remains in light sleep. Ready to wake. Ready to fight. Ready to respond.
The danger has passed, and that is the problem. The body doesn't know. The end of the drill weekend. The enemy is NOT in the bedroom. The body still acts as if the enemy is outside the tent.
The airman needs to let his body know that the mission is finished. The skill isn't inborn. The skill has been practiced.
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The REM Disruption Protocol: 5 Steps to Restore Deep Sleep
The REM Disruption Protocol is not a suggestion. The REM Disruption Protocol is the difference between exhausted and recovered.
Step One: Reset the Schedule
The body is in need of routine. The airman who sleeps at night at the same time will enter REM faster.
The weekend is the most important time of the day on Sunday night after drill. Avoid lying around all night to "decompress." Sleep first. Decompress tomorrow.
Monday morning. Get up at the same time, even if tired. The body learns.
Tuesday through Friday. Maintain the same bedtime. The REM debt starts to be paid back.
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Step Two: Eliminate the REM Blockers
No caffeine after noon. The half-life of caffeine is six hours. The coffee at 2 PM is still in your system at 8 PM.
No alcohol on Sunday night. The drink feels good for an hour. The sleep disruption lasts all night. No screens for one hour before bed. The blue light suppresses melatonin. Read a book. Stretch. Pray.
The airman who eliminates the blockers will sleep deeper.
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Step Three: Cool the Room, Darken the Room
The body sleeps best at sixty-five degrees. The body sleeps best in complete darkness. Blackout curtains. The Montana summer sun rises early. The sun should not wake you.
No lights. Cover the clock. Cover the router. Cover the phone. Any light disrupts REM. Cool temperature. Turn down the thermostat. The body cannot enter deep sleep when it is warm.
The airman who controls the environment controls his sleep.
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Step Four: Signal the Nervous System
The body needs to know that the mission is over. The airman must signal the nervous system. Box breathing before bed. Four seconds in. Four seconds hold. Four seconds out. Four seconds hold. Three cycles.
Progressive muscle relaxation. Tense your feet. Release. Tense your calves. Release. Move up the body. The act of surrendering the day tells your body that you are not in control. The enemy cannot reach you here.
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Step Five: Repay the REM Debt
The REM debt accumulates. The REM debt must be repaid. One extra hour of sleep per night for the first week. The body needs more than eight hours to catch up.
Naps of twenty minutes. Not longer. Longer naps cause sleep inertia. Consistency. The airman who sleeps well for one night is not recovered. The airman who sleeps well for seven nights is recovered.
The 120th Airlift Wing airman who repays the REM debt will feel human again.
For the complete Air Guard perspective on sleep recovery, read Robins Air Force Base Briefing: Why GA Air Guard Airmen Wear Their Allegiance.
The Role of Faith, Recovery, and Mental Reset
Sleep is physical. Sleep is also spiritual. The airman who cannot release his worries to God will not sleep.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28
The enemy wants you to carry the weight of the mission. The enemy wants you to believe that you must stay alert. The enemy wants you to believe that rest is weakness.
The truth is different. Rest is obedience. Rest is trust. Rest is readiness.
The airman who rests in God will fight better tomorrow. The airman who does not rest will break.
For the full spiritual warfare doctrine on rest and recovery, read The Sovereign Protocol: Elite Gear & Fuel to Enhance Military Performance.
The Montana Air National Guard REM Recovery Mindset
The 120th Airlift Wing cannot afford exhausted airmen. The 219th RED HORSE Squadron cannot afford foggy minds. The Montana Air National Guard needs airmen who sleep.
The REM Recovery Mindset has three components.
First, sleep is a mission. Not a reward. Not a break. A mission. The airman who treats sleep as optional will fail the real mission.
Second, sleep is a weapon. The rested airman thinks faster. The rested airman reacts more quickly. The rested airman wins.
Third, sleep is obedience. God commanded rest. The airman who rests is obeying his commander.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith." — 2 Timothy 4:7
Conclusion: Wake Up Rested, Ready, and Mission-Focused
The exhaustion is real. The exhaustion has a cause. The cause has a solution.
The REM Disruption Protocol is the solution. Reset the schedule. Eliminate the blockers. Cool the room. Signal the nervous system. Repay the debt.
The airman who follows the protocol will wake up rested. The rested airman will be ready. The ready airman will complete the mission.
Spiritual Minded Military Montana Air National Guard: The REM Disruption Protocol is now in effect. Sleep is a weapon. Use it. Fall in.
The Remnant does not transition. The Remnant re-enlists.
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