October 2003
Volume 16, Number 10
Psychological Science Onboard a Submarine
I didn't join the Navy to become a psychologist. I don't know anyone who has. Most people join the armed services to learn a skill or trade, or to obtain a higher academic degree, knowing the military will cover the costs to bring those goals to fruition. But I already had my PhD before even interviewing with the Navy; they wouldn't look at me without one, just like in academia. My interview for the Navy, particularly here at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory where I am a research psychologist in the submarine medicine department, was no different than any college interview for assistant professor. I simply presented my dissertation work on the effects of magnetic fields on sleep and melatonin in rats. The main difference was after the interview. For one thing, I actually got this job. Plus, when I accepted the Navy's offer, I had to agree to don a khaki uniform - or blue or white, depending on the season, but always polyester - and become a commissioned officer in the US Navy.
My background is in biological psychology and basic research. But in the Navy, most research by experimental psychologists is applied. Even though I still have a major interest in neuroscience, I've found during my short time as a researcher at NSMRL that I was more and more a human factors scientist solving operational problems on multidisciplinary research and development teams. However, my grounding in basic science brings a unique perspective to the research that I am involved with and, even as a junior officer, I have had the opportunity to be primary investigator on applied projects that cost over half a million dollars. I think it is funny that, just a few years ago, when I received a summer dissertation fellowship worth $3,000, I thought I was fat rich!
My main job is to evaluate the sleep, circadian rhythms, and performance of Navy submariners. My colleagues and I have surveyed hundreds of submariners on how much sleep they typically obtain during a submarine deployment as compared to when in port. The submarine environment is a hotbed of opportunity for a sleep researcher. Most of these sailors are shift workers in an environment that is devoid of auditory cues, very similar to true isolation studies performed at civilian sleep research laboratories. It is difficult and costly to perform this type of research in an on-shore laboratory, yet a submarine creates this novel environment every day. Moreover, submariners routinely work for six hours then are off for 12 hours; these shifts repeat for the duration of the journey. So each "day" is only 18 hours. Couple all that with a crew of more than 120 in a space akin to a three-bedroom home, and you have an interesting scientific environment.
One thing we are currently investigating is how a new 24-hour watchstanding schedule might improve the performance and health of submariners. We are testing this new schedule both in traditional sleep laboratory simulations and on board actual submarines. Only a handful of psychologists in the world have been underway on a fast-attack nuclear submarine, and it is a privilege to be one of them.
While this may seem quite removed from academia, I still have one foot in the ivory tower. I am a visiting assistant professor at Connecticut College and teach a course on sleep research. This way I can still interact with academic psychologists and students of psychology. I am also pleased that a number of my future Navy projects involve collaborations with academicians at major research universities.
Most people don't think of research psychology when speculating about life in the armed services, but there is a long history of behavioral scientists serving our country, back to the days of WWI. Today there are Navy psychologists serving in the campaign in Iraq. I am certain the Navy will continue to use the skills of psychological scientists well into the future.
