Go and no-go pills

In the U.S. military, go pills and no-go pills refer to medications meant, respectively, to increase wakefulness or to induce sleepiness in order to ensure adequate alertness or rest in preparation for upcoming tasks.

Go pill

A go pill refers to a wakefulness-promoting agent used for fatigue management, especially in a military combat-readiness context; this is contrasted with a no-go pill, which is used to promote sleep in support of combat operations. A go pill generally contains one of the following drugs:

• Amphetamine (methamphetamine having been used historically, such as during the Second World War), which is a strong psychostimulant drug; no longer approved officially for use by the U.S. Air Force, ^[1] possibly due to safety concerns brought up in the wake of incidents like the Tarnak Farm incident. ^[2]
• Modafinil, a wakefulness-promoting drug (or eugeroic) ^{[3] [4]}

No-go pill

As of November 2012, sleeping agents approved as no-go pills by the U.S. Air Force for aircrew and AFSOC ^[5] forces include:

• Temazepam (Restoril), with a 12-hour restriction on subsequent flight operation
• Zaleplon (Sonata), with a 4-hour restriction on subsequent flight operation
• Zolpidem (Ambien), with a 6-hour restriction on subsequent flight operation

References

1. Air Force Special Operations Command Instruction 48–101 Archived June 11, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (sects. 1.7.4), U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, November 30, 2012.
2. Bonne, Jon (Jan 13, 2006). "'Go pills': A war on drugs?". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
3. Tech. Sgt. J.C. Woodring (30 April 2004). "Air Force scientists battle aviator fatigue". www.af.mil. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
4. Emonson DL, Vanderbeek RD (1995). "The use of amphetamines in U.S. Air Force tactical operations during Desert Shield and Storm". Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. 66 (3): 260–3. PMID   7661838.
5. Air Force Special Operations Command Instruction 48-101 Archived June 11, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, November 30, 2012.