By LCDR Jamie French, CNAF NATOPS Officer
Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF), recently approved and published expanded guidance clarifying rest policies that now apply to all CNAF Sailors. The changes to the CNAF M-3710.7 (NATOPS GENERAL FLIGHT AND OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL) just took effect this week. These rest policies have been well-defined for aircrew and aviation support personnel for many years, but recent mishap events/investigations, which led to the Navy-wide Comprehensive Review, have revealed that there were important gaps in combating fatigue. These gaps are addressed with a more
inclusive policy.
The intent behind the changes to this policy is to address the many non-aviation personnel operating on aircraft carriers, who are often put in positions of significant responsibility and decision-making authority, in very dynamic and challenging environments. Recent investigations revealed that those watchstanders did not always receive an adequate rest period. When fatigued – and confronted with those watch duties, performance and safety suffers. Remaining in an alert status, standing watch, performing collateral duties, and other disruptions to a Sailor’s circadian rhythm and sleep periods during high tempo operations can create the conditions for
catastrophic mishaps.
As the instruction details, accident rates for nearly every activity increase after 18 hours of wakefulness, and this fatigue creates the conditions for poor judgement and preventable mistakes. With this policy change, Sailors will not be routinely scheduled for more than 18 hours of continuous duty, and if a mission or task requires a Sailor to work beyond the 18-hour mark, they will be afforded an off-duty period of at least 15 hours prior to resuming duties. Leaders are also required to schedule their personnel with the opportunity for 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every day.
There will be impacts to CVN 24-hour operations that will require thought, planning, and leader involvement to ensure that we are creating the safest possible environment while still meeting all mission requirements. CVN leaders and Sailors at all levels are encouraged to submit lessons learned, challenges and best practices, or other feedback to the CNAF Force NATOPS desk at Jamie.french@navy.mil.
LCDR Jamie "Curbie" French grew up in Los Alamitos, CA, and graduated from the Naval Academy in 2003. She is am MH-60R pilot and enjoys running, bike riding and spending time with her family.