The Army says soldiers should nap more. Here are 13 weird places US troops have been sleeping

Caitlin Foster,David ChoiOct 16, 2020, 02:23 IST

A Navy chief sleeps between exercises during a combined field training exercise near Azusa, California.Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Peter Blair/US Navy

The US Army recently revised its health guidelines, advising troops on "physical readiness, nutritional readiness, mental readiness, spiritual readiness, and sleep readiness."
Service members often go through prolonged periods of training and operations that leave them tired but with little time to rest.
According to the new guidelines, those troops can use "short, infrequent naps to restore wakefulness and promote performance."
From torpedo rooms to tanks and aircraft to truck beds, here are some of the strangest and most creative places those troops have chosen to catch up on sleep.

In ready rooms before heading out.

Paratroopers catch some sleep after working through the night to prepare for an early morning combat jump in Italy. Lt. Col. John Hall/173rd Airborne Brigade

On location — like this US Marine sleeping on the hood of a vehicle.

A US Marine from Task Force Tarawa sleeps on his truck in central Iraq, April 8, 2003. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Torpedo rooms on US submarines.

Capt. Jesse Zimbauer, commanding officer of USS Indiana, gives an interview in the submarine's torpedo room. Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Jeffrey Richardson/US Navy

Junior members of submarine crews are often required to "hot rack," where another crew member sleeps in their bunk while they are on duty.

Sailors drape towels over themselves to block out light.

Sailors on USS Indiana sleep in the sub's torpedo room while underway. Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Jeffrey Richardson/US Navy

On aircraft.

US soldiers sleep during a flight home from Afghanistan on C-17 Globemaster. Staff Sgt. Jordan Castelan/US Air Force

On the deck.

Too tired to bother with his meal rations, an instructor crashes on the ship deck. Richard Schoenberg/Corbis via Getty Images

On a sunny beach.

Navy SEAL trainees who won a boat race share the spoils of victory: a two-minute nap on the beach. Richard Schoenberg/Corbis via Getty Images

In the chow hall.

A military student multitasks during a dinner break. Richard Schoenberg/Corbis via Getty Images

During a graduation ceremony.

A graduate naps during the US Merchant Marine Academy commencement ceremony in Kings Point, New York, June 23, 2003. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

While standing up.

A trainee steals a few winks during a lull between a decontamination shower and a medical check-up. Richard Schoenberg/Corbis via Getty Images

Small-boat operations are extremely dangerous. But when they're not launching their boats, US sailors sometimes use them to catnap.

Sailors aboard USS Preble prepare to launch their rigid hulled inflatable boat. Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Bryan Niegel/US Navy

In sleeping bags in sub-freezing temperatures during field training.

Soldiers sleep during cold-weather gunnery training, where they had to use only sleeping bags for five nights in single-digit temperatures. Airmen1st Class Ariel Owings/325th Airborne Infantry Regiment

During a stand-down.

US Marine Corps Cpl. Roberto Lopez sleeps during a maintenance stand-down near Kumayt, Iraq, April 10, 2003. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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