The setting of this problem is the Command Center of III Marine Expeditionary Force. The Command Center is a critical function that is directly related to force readiness. As the Command Center must function continuously, personnel assigned to the Command Center must work shifts. The Command Center requires a staff of three persons on duty at all times. Command Center staff performs critical functions, including the following:
Monitoring communications and conducting communications tasks
Monitoring every room in Headquarters to assure that all classified materials are secure and that no unauthorized people are in the building
Most people assigned to Command Center duty do not get sufficient sleep. Night shift (2300-0700) workers (fighting the natural wake-sleep pattern) experience problems remaining alert. One of the reasons is that staff personnel assigned to the night shift experience greater difficulties in getting beneficial sleep in daytime hours. Staff assigned to other shifts do not experience the same level of problems remaining alert because they are able to sleep me workers do because their sleep patterns are more effective, as they tend to conform to normal wake-sleep patterns.
The mission critical nature of the responsibilities of the Command Center have, in the past, precluded serious consideration of alternative approaches to the scheduling of work in the Command Center to relieve problems associated with shift work. For approximately twenty five years, the III MEF Command Center has followed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to develop their shift schedule. The SOP has not been substantially modified during that period. Further, the SOP does not include provisions that recognize potential shift work-related effects on staff health and staff performance.
This study investigates the shift work issue at the Command Center with an objective of developing recommended changes in work schedules that w...