Juicing the Brain examines recent research to limit mental fatigue among soldiers — and drugs that have already been used, in some cases for centuries:
A few news outlets have made unconfirmed claims that American soldiers were using modafinil on the way to Baghdad in 2003. That would not be surprising. Minimizing the need for sleep has been a holy grail for war planners since time immemorial. Guards at China’s Great Wall chewed an herb containing ephedrine; Incan fighters munched on coca leaves; 19th-century Bavarian officers gave their men cocaine; soldiers from several countries used amphetamines during World War II; and, of course, armies consume countless tons of caffeine and nicotine. French soldiers took modafinil in the first Gulf War, and the Guardian newspaper reported in 2004 that the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense had purchased 24,000 tablets of the drug.