UAS United States Air Force Shift Work Schedule Proposal

Scheduling shift work can be challenging when a 24/7 operation is required.  Depending on how many total employees are within budget and finding reliable employees that will work 2^nd and 3^rd shifts.  The type of work being carried out will also dictate to what extent employees can continuously change shifts.

     Reviewing the current MQ-1B UAS USAF shift schedule for one-month, one potential issue is the fact that each team only works a shift for one work week of 6 days.  Team 1 is working day shift for the first week then the swing shift the next week.  Changing from day to evening to night, one week after the next greatly disrupts the natural circadian rhythm of an individual.  The consistent rotation of shifts starting at a later time each week can lead to greater levels of fatigue due to lack of adjustment to the time change each work week.  Another challenge is having team members operating UAS late at night when fatigue and sleepiness may be setting in.  Lastly, a 6-day workweek is slightly less normal and makes for a slightly longer workweek which can seem even greater when fatigue is an issue.  The extra day of work when fatigued can equate to needing an additional day off to recuperate.

     Recommendations based on the current schedule would be to conduct a five on two off to coincide with a standard calendar workweek.  To help reduce constant change each team should work two consecutive weeks on a particular shift.  Another option would be to keep the shifts consistent throughout the month.  Each team would work an entire shift, such as day or swing for one month before advancing to the next shift when the month changes.  This would allow for a greater adjustment time and more consistent schedule.  Another recommendation is having periodic breaks during a shift to break up the monotony of sitting at a ground control station.  This would allow the operator to incorporate supplemental diet and exercise during a shift to keep the crewmembers sharp and avoid computer monitor fatigue.

            Taking the various recommendations into consideration a most ideal schedule for keeping team members fresh and alert for critical ISR work with ground forces in a conflict zone is shown below in table 1.  An increase to six teams helps spread the workload allowing for more off time in-between missions.  The below schedule would run Monday through Sunday for one month at which time a rotation would occur where team 1 would become team 2, team 2 becomes team 3, team 3 becomes team 4, etc.  Every team works either 3 or 4 days with 3 or 4 days off depending on their current monthly rotation.  However, the days on and off are more dispersed with mostly 1 day on and 1 day off.  This allows for better recuperation between missions and the ability to sleep longer if necessary to increase mental capacity during shift work.  The on/off nature of the schedule reduces the chances of increased fatigue and stress that can build up over a longer workweek.

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Team 1	Day		Day		Day		Day
Team 2		Day		Day		Day
Team 3	Swing		Swing		Swing		Swing
Team 4		Night		Night		Night
Team 5	Night		Night		Night		Night
Team 6		Swing		Swing		Swing
Shift	Starts	Ends
Day	7:30AM	4:00PM
Swing	3:30PM	12:00AM
Night	11:30PM	8:00AM

Table 1 – UAS Six Team Member Proposed Schedule

References

Hazardous Fatigue and Work-Related Stress. (n.d.). Retrieved July 4, 2016.

Hennigan, W.J. (2015, November 9). Air Force struggles to add drone pilots and address fatigue and stress. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-drone-pilot-crisis-20151109-story.html (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)