By Kenneth Stewart

NPS Associate Professor Nita Shattuck, pictured during a past sleep study, has been proving the merits of her Sailor-optimized watch bills that boost performance through capitalizing on the body’s natural sleeping rhythm for years. Now, Navy surface ships, subs, and beyond can take advantage of Shattuck’s work through her recently launched online portal.

The crew endurance portal offers everything from empirical data touting the importance of crew rest, to sample watch bills and instructions on how to implement them. It even offers online assessment tools designed to help individual Sailors gauge their level of fatigue.

“My goal is to expand the website to be able to create schedules based upon individual requirements at different organizations,” said Shattuck. “There is not one watch standing bill for all, the watch schedule must be adapted to individual crew needs.”

“The website is a one-stop resource for personnel to receive tools and information on how to implement feasible watch standing schedules,” added long-time Shattuck team member Jane Barreto.

Shattuck will be introducing her portal at an upcoming “Restrictive Effects of Sleep” workshop sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Participants will be looking specifically at the level of fatigue that service members are being exposed to.

“There is a great deal of interest in this area and funding agencies are coming together to discuss it,” said Shattuck.

Shattuck is also scheduled to meet with Commander Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Thomas S. Rowden later this year to discuss her work and its potential application upon ships throughout the surface Navy.