Training for food and sleep deprivation
 

One day I was working out and it hit me....a person could be a complete physical freak and still fail at various points in the SF selection. Correct? They could read all they want for preparation, but still fall victim to surprises or things just hard to train for. The two I thought of is sleep and food. Now, I have not attended SFAS or any other part of the pipeline, so I'm only figuring that instructors will try to make candidates uncomfortable as possible...within reason, to represent situations they could in encounter later-on. Is this correct?

So that said, is there any smart way to condition one's body for to these mental tests? That is training for sleep deprivation and/or minimal food?

I think you should let it hit you again.

rephrase: "and it occured to me"

No.

Smart? No.

You want sleep deprivation and starvation? Go to Ranger School. Or SERE.

TR

No
 

Short answer - NO

Long answer - NO. But the long answer starts with - Do you cheat on yourself when nobody is looking?

You don't train for it - you deal with it. The mental part is dealing with it.

Notice how almost all of the threads like this return to the mental state of the individual?

A strong mind can carry a weak body father than a strong body can carry a weak mind.

So you can go without sleep to see what it feels like and go without food for a while to see what that feels like - but knowing what it feels like is not the same as running through the woods at 0200, bouncing off a tree, realizing you have uncounted clicks to go - and get on with it.

i personally believe there is no mental conditioning you could do in preparation. however,i believe a strong will & faith correlates more closely with your body's ability to endure hunger & fatigue.

i've only brushed briefly with sleep deprivation during the invasion in '03. there was no benchmark available to me (as in prior experience) to measure this against, but i handled it as best as i could.

my meager $.02 .

-jon.

If you're anticipating a mission that involves food deprivation, eat until you're nearly a candidate for the fatboy program beforehand.

With regard to lack of sleep-you could practice being tired, but you'd be wasting your time.

Agree on all previous posts. I've gone through my share of sleep deprivation in my brief military career via deployment, training and such. For me there was no book, you just deal with it. I always just concentrated at the task at hand and knew that if I slept or such that I would be letting my fellow soldiers down. :munchin

This 16 year old (in the thread below) surely didn't plan to accomplish what she did the way she did it, But her mind was ready and strong enough to help her do what she shought she needed to do.

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=31339

As her coach said...

Ever noticed that two weeks before Infil, PT kinda drops off - minus rehersals, and eating becomes an exercise in itself.

I still never got enough sleep, well rested maybe, but sleep? No.

Napping is still one of my favorite pass times.

Yep, 5 mins. here, 10 mins. there. Surprising how much it helped.:munchin

lol I do "standing naps" out shopping with Mrs. Dusty all the time.

Hehe yes and I've managed to nap with one eye open while shopping with the misses as well.:munchin

hmm..I've never heard that one before, but I like it.

lean against the cart, it helps.

Knowing how to nap standing while the misses is shopping. Hey, I always knew that my sleep deprivation training/experiences would come in handy for something. :D

I still think you should let it hit you again, harder.

But . . . here is how I look at it.
Rest is like a checking account at the First National Bank of Sleep.
You can fill it up but it is a non-interest bearing account. You will never have a surplus.
All deposits will be honored.
You can make reasonable withdrawls without penalty.
You can overdraw the account and the Sleep Bank will, for a time, honor your checks without penalty.
Soon thereafter, if you continue to overdraw the account, there will be penalties assessed. The penalties will become significantly more severe as the deficit grows.
The Sleep Bank WILL close your over-drawn account without warning.
Eventually, you will be required to make a significant deposit.

the silliness can now resume. (I hope your wife catches you napping while shopping, hard to imagine what you might buy:D)

SNORE.

Gmanflyarmy,
Um…why are you looking for all the answers in SFAS? I understand that a lot of people are here to learn but at some point you have to draw the line with what to ask and just do it. S**t or get off the pot. For something like SFAS you prepare mentally and physically, but there are no easy wins and no super secrets that will just make it enjoyable for you. I myself have read many, many books on past JSOC/SOCOM operations and training. Simply for the education for my job, but I think you are missing the point. Soldiers are assessed on their abilities to adapt and endure, if you are out to gather all the intel there is on the subject before your class date then what are you really doing for the training system? I think the right answer would just be who you are and not pretend or force yourself to temporarily be something else you may be incapable of continuing. On any assessment military program those types of people are looked for too. The surprise is the whole purpose of the adventure path.

…I am sure this makes me a target, but I had to say something.

“You want sleep deprivation and starvation? Go to Ranger School. Or SERE.” +1!

I was in the fourth "test" class for SFAS (called SFOT) in 88. There wasn't internet, nor did I know anyone in Group to ask. I just rucked, did a lot of PT and went. The problem with alot of you on this board is you over-analyze it. Quit worrying about it and just do it (or not).

My wife is still wondering how I can sleep anywhere whether it is noisy or not.

Funny thing is, I've wondered how I'm able to do it as well?:munchin

Just be in the best shape you can achieve. Some things you can't/shouldn't practice.....like rough terrain jumping...you either hit something or you don't.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh...I'm cramming for SFAS. Wake me up when the chow's ready or when we're ready to move this into the appropriate thread...perhaps the Twilight Zone...otherwise, let me study. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... ;)

And so it goes...

Richard :munchin

I heard that there's a good school in Georgia that will help change your ideas about food and sleep :boohoo

I find if you approach your situations in schools and balance the "kaboom factor" with some school house logic, you can be very successful. Especially now in my career, I am more critical of my peers in schools because of their combat logic. I can say that there is a huge difference between me as a pfc and now...I'm not sure we could find any resemblance? Now don't get me wrong, we all get hungry and tired and will do some odd things that are out of our control; but if you can't maintain a sector of fire and keep your eyes open, you just failed a skill level 1 task, if we can call it that.

...I've never turned down a sound rest plan.

I was taught this during my early days in the Infantry by my Sqd Ldr who came from 1/75.

Why stand when you can sit.
Why sit when you can lay down.
Why be awake when you can sleep.

I, like so many others, have mastered the mini-nap....as well as the long one. LOL...'course it scares the hell out of the other people in my truck.

What happened to "Never miss a meal"?

I dunno...if a guy thought he might be wounded someday, would it make sense to practice bleeding?

I thought that was IV training with the Bravos(am a Bravo by the way) or maybe that was just the Bravos on my team during Sage

No...it's all of them (us).

Sleep
 

RVN '69-'70. I could usually stay awake 72 hour's without any helper's.

BMT

In regards to SFAS, can you just PT yourself whenever tired? or not unless told?

"PT yourself"! Is that a new name for 'it'????

SgtP
 

Sgt - this thread has been quiet, almost asleep (funny), for 6 months.

I always do some front back gos when a lil tired. I would've made a terrible sniper

Sgt
 

This is your 3rd post at PS.com, do not make number 4 on this thread.

Feel free to read the entire thread as many times as you like, but do not post again here.