Commander's Blog

It's that time again to heed the old adage "Fall back, Spring forward" as we reset all of our clocks and watches for Daylight Savings Time, which began this past weekend. While many may enjoy the extra hours of evening sunlight and the energy that is conserved, others are just plain irritated with the way the time change affects our sleeping and eating patterns – often for about a week, or even longer. Nevertheless, we do this twice a year, year in and year out, so I thought it would be interesting to discover its origins and share this with you.

Well, we all can thank Ben Franklin for this biannual ritual, as he first introduced this concept in an essay to the editor of The Journal of Paris in 1784. In his piece, "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light," Franklin jokingly suggested that the people of Paris could save on candle usage by waking up earlier in the morning, and using more of the natural morning light. It took quite a while, but eventually the concept caught on. Although the United Kingdom didn't start using DST until 1916, the United States was actually two years behind in this when President Wilson signed it into law in 1918 to support the war effort during World War I.

This initial trial in the U.S. lasted for only seven months, but it was put back into place by President Roosevelt in 1942 as year-round DST, also called "War Time" because it was used as such throughout World War II. However, between 1945 and 1966, a lack of uniform DST rules in the U.S. caused problems for both the transportation and broadcasting industries, as you could imagine. Because of this, Congress established the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which set the basic DST guidelines that we follow today (between March and November), although some adjustments have been made over the years.

So, while we may have a better idea of the history, I'm sure many of you are thinking, "Well, this still doesn't help me in having to deal with losing an hour of sleep!" I can understand this, but we all just have to deal with it anyway – so here are some suggestions on resetting our internal clocks to match the time change.

As light has always been the main issue with DST, it's no wonder that light plays an important role in trying to adjust to the time change, which we should do gradually. Because light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, which is a sleep-inducing substance, experts say that we should expose ourselves to the light as much as possible during our waking hours, but reduce our exposure to light when it's dark outside. These experts also say that "sleep hygiene" is very important to falling and staying asleep. This includes reducing or eliminating alcohol and caffeine, exercising several hours before bedtime and then using a calming ritual (such as a hot bath) to relax right before going to bed, and using earplugs and eye masks, if these are helpful for you.

The time change usually affects our eating patterns for a while, because our schedules are one hour off, so it's important to also maintain a proper diet to ensure we stay fed and hydrated as we adjust to the shift. Actually, keeping in mind the Army's Performance Triad of carefully balancing sleep, activity and nutrition in our daily lives should help us to overcome some of the effects and stress related to the DST switch. This should also help to prevent any injuries or accidents during this transition time as well, because it's not uncommon for some folks to get a bit drowsy or dizzy due to the effects of DST and how it affects our daily routine. Some might say that these symptoms could mirror those of typical jet lag, and since many on our USAMMDA team travel often for business, we need to be aware of the similar signs of fatigue, insomnia and anxiety – and treat these with the same proper balance of sleep, activity and nutrition per the Triad, regardless of the time of year. Situational awareness is critical in all we do every day.

In a nutshell, the DST switch basically affects our minds, so we must make sure we are doing our best to remain sharp and aware at all times, especially as we work through the time change. And speaking of keeping our minds alert and healthy, we should remember that March is Brain Injury Awareness Month throughout the nation, and the theme this year is "Not Alone." This important campaign is geared towards educating the general public about the topic of brain injury and the needs of the victims and families dealing with this issue, and you can learn more about this at http://www.biausa.org/brain-injury-awareness-month.htm.

Our USAMMDA family is certainly aware of this important topic, and our Neurotrauma & Psychological Health Project Management Office works daily to support the advanced development of products to treat Service Members with Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The efforts of the NPH PMO assist in the development of biomarkers for TBI as well as clinical drugs and therapies to treat patients with TBI. I'm very proud of the work we do as an organization to help combat the effects of TBI among our Servicemen and –women, as this effort clearly aligns with our mission to protect, treat and sustain the health of our military members throughout the world.

The bottom line is that we must work each day to take care of ourselves and each other, and this can be done properly only if we are at the top of our game. Remember that in order to keep our minds and bodies sharp, we must get proper sleep, eat well, and exercise often – especially during this transition of losing an hour to DST. Our work here at USAMMDA is too important to take lightly, and it takes each of us operating at 100 percent to make it happen!

The success we see each day throughout our organization helps to keep our Nation strong!

Hooah!

COL William Geesey