Weaponizing Wellness for the Warfighter
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
Happy Veteran's Day 2025.
Every November, America pauses to thank its veterans. We shake hands, stand for the anthem, and post our gratitude online. But the truth is, for too many who served, the war never ended. It followed them home via their body, mind, and in the quiet hours of the night.
When the government owns your time, it spends it recklessly, then asks for more. The warfighter gives everything. He pushes hard, then harder. He learns to function on four hours of sleep, then two. He learns to sleep sitting up, in trucks, in trenches, under fluorescent lights. Sleep becomes a weakness, a luxury, an afterthought. And when the mission ends, that pattern doesn’t.
In January, I wrote a memorandum to the Pentagon titled: "Weaponizing Wellness for the Warfighter." Now we need to make it a book. Please vote for this book. (We need this for the publisher). https://c.org/6cXN7jjLXf <<<Change.org
By Robert Sweetman — Former Navy SEAL, Sleep Scientist, and Founder of Sleep Genius
The problem is, losing sleep doesn’t just steal your readiness - it dismantles your humanity. It eats away at your hormone health, corrodes your memory, erodes your patience, and inflames your body. It opens the door for anxiety, depression, and despair. And in the end, it kills.
In 2022, 6,407 veterans took their own lives. The Department of Veterans Affairs will spend roughly $17 billion this year on suicide prevention and mental health programs. Yet the problem keeps growing.
Read the memorandum to the Pentagon: "Weaponizing Wellness for the Warfighter."
We’ve built entire systems to treat the symptoms, but few are willing to confront the root cause: chronic sleep deprivation. We have underestimated what happens when a nation of warriors loses the ability to rest.
Sleep is not passive. It’s an act of biological repair. It’s the body’s chance to restore balance, reset hormones, clear inflammation, and process memory. It’s where resilience is built and readiness is reborn. Without it, the strongest soldier becomes fragile, the sharpest mind dulls, and the bravest heart grows weary.
Watch the TEDx Talk on "Robots in Warfare."
I learned this the hard way. I served alongside some of the most elite warriors in the world Navy SEALs; who could outthink, outlast, and outperform anyone on the planet. And I watched some of those same men break under the invisible weight of exhaustion. One of them was my platoon mate, Ryan Larkin. Ryan was a warrior, a husband, a father, and an artist. But sleep deprivation, brain trauma, and an untreated nervous system eventually took his life.
That’s when I made a promise: to understand the science of sleep and bring it back to those who gave everything.
Veterans Day should be more than a holiday. It should be a reckoning. It’s not enough to honor the fallen if we ignore the living. We must fight for recovery with the same precision we fought for victory.
Because the next frontier of readiness isn’t found in the gym or the armory. It’s found in the dark, and in the quiet surrender of real rest.
This is the hidden war. And it’s time to win it.
Sign the petition for Robert to finish the book "The War on Sleep: A warfighter’s awakening to the power of sleep."www.change.org."
Robert Sweetman is a former U.S. Navy SEAL, MBA, and sleep scientist. He is the founder of Sleep Genius and the creator of the 62Romeo Sleep Coach Program. His forthcoming book, The War on Sleep, explores how exhaustion has become the silent killer of modern warriors — and how reclaiming rest can save lives.
🔬 Sleep & Science
#SleepHealth #SleepScience #SleepOptimization #SleepBetter #RecoveryScience #CognitivePerformance #HumanPerformance #RestAndRecovery #CircadianRhythm #PeakPerformance
🪖 Military / SEAL Identity
#NavySEAL #SEALTeams #MilitaryToCivilian #VeteranVoices #FromTheTeams #SpecialOperations #WarfighterWellness #MilitaryPerformance #VeteranLeadership #OperatorEdge
🌱 Health & Wellness
#WellnessJourney #OptimizeYourLife #HealthAndPerformance #StrongerEveryDay #MindBodyRecovery #HolisticHealth #PeakMindset #ResilientLiving #HealthyHabits
📚 Book Launch
#AuthorLife #NewBook #BookLaunch #62Romeo #SLEEP101 #FromTheSEALTeams #SleepCoach #SleepRevolution #WhyWeSleep
Comments