Adjusting the Duty Day Schedule to Improve Health and Family Life in Garrison

Abstract

Soldiers in the U.S. Army are deployed more often and for longer than they were in the past. This deployment tempo can have negative effects on the physical and psychological well-being of soldiers and their families. In this article, we examine how changes to the structure of work schedules in a U.S. Army brigade can ameliorate negative effects from an increased deployment tempo. The authors present research from a quasi-experimental design that measures soldier opinions before and after changing their work schedule. The results indicate that schedule changes had a positive effect for some junior-enlisted personnel and did not, on average, adversely affect the social and health outcomes of non-commissioned officers.

Keywords:

• Organizations
• work–family conflict
• multiple deployments
• sleep
• health outcomes
• military
• military sociology

Notes

The writing of this article was supported in part by the Army Research Institute under contract W74V8H-05-K-0007. The views of the authors are their own and do not purport to reflect the position of the Army Research Institute, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense. We also acknowledge support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Child Health and Human Development Grant R24-HD041041 to the Maryland Population Research Center.

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