• The rigorous demands and stress of military service often lead to sleep deprivation.
  • Soldiers and sailors endure prolonged periods of training and operations – and they often get creative on where they drift off.
  • That’s why they’re skilled at sleeping where they can, when they can.
  • From torpedo rooms to tanks, aircraft to truck beds, here are some of the strangest and most uncomfortable places troops nod off.

1. In ready rooms before heading out on a mission.

Foto: Paratroopers catch some sleep after working through the night to prepare for an early morning combat jump in Italy.sourceLt. Col. John Hall/173rd Airborne Brigade

2. On location — like this soldier hauling the mattress he’ll sleep on later.

Foto: A soldier carries a mattress he’ll use to sleep on next to a school used as a polling station during elections in Peru in 2016.sourceRodrigo Abd/AP photo

3. Torpedo rooms on US submarines.

Foto: Capt. Jesse Zimbauer, commanding officer of the submarine USS Indiana, gives an interview in the submarine’s torpedo room.sourceMass Communications Specialist 1st Class Jeffrey Richardson/US Navy

Junior members of submarine crews are often required to “hot rack,” where another crewmember sleeps in their bunk while they are on duty.

Sailors draped towels over themselves to shield them from the lights.

Foto: Sailors of the USS Indiana sleep in the boat’s torpedo room while the ship is underway.sourceMass Communications Specialist 1st Class Jeffrey Richardson/US Navy

4. On aircraft.

Foto: US soldiers sleep during a flight home from Afghanistan on C-17 Globemaster.sourceStaff Sgt. Jordan Castelan/US Air Force

5. Tanks.

Foto: An Iraqi soldier sleeps on a tank during a break in fighting against ISIS in September 2017.sourceAHMAD AL RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

6. Armored vehicles.

Foto: A South Korean soldier sleeps on an armored vehicle during an annual exercise in Paju, South Korea in 2016.sourceAhn Young-Joon/AP photo

7. In a field of artillery shells.

Foto: An Israeli soldier sleeps on a truck behind mobile artillery unit shells near the Israel-Gaza border in 2014.sourceLefteris Pitarakis/AP photo

8. In the shade provided by vehicles, sometimes using each other as pillows.

Foto: Israeli soldiers sleep beside their vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border in 2014.sourceAriel Schalit/AP photo

9. During field training, in sleeping bags in sub-freezing temperatures.

Foto: Soldiers sleep during cold weather gunnery training, where they had to use only sleeping bags for five nights in single-digit temperatures.sourceAirmen1st Class Ariel Owings/325th Airborne Infantry Regiment

10. Small boat operations are extremely dangerous. But when they’re not launching their boats, US sailors sometimes use them to catnap.

Foto: Sailors assigned to USS Preble prepare to launch their rigid hulled inflatable boat off the boat deck.sourceMass Communications Specialist 1st Class Bryan Niegel/US Navy