Making Bio Relief a “Number One” Priority By LCDR Jess Cameron, VAW-120 Let’s talk about the “elephant”—nay—the “Piddle Pak in the room.” That’s right: get all the giggles out. I’m talking about pee, people— the urge to purge. We need to dust off and reexamine the unnecessarily taboo subject of in-flight biological relief, or “bio relief” because it is unacceptable that we have not yet fully solved the problem. The more we openly discuss bio relief, the better we signal demand 641 with Omega throughout Naval Aviation for Right page: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alan L. Robertson safe and effective options for men and women across multiple Type/Model/Series (T/M/S) and at all stages in their flying career. I’ve been on numerous critical Bio relief isn’t a singular event, it doesn’t involve missions with a high degree of sea stories regarding weapons systems or task saturation and involved catastrophic equipment failure, yet everyone mission requirements. I was encounters it. Winged aviators at every level unable to step back from my seat shouldn’t feel like they don’t have a voice on the for what would realistically be at issue, or that they have to remain anonymous least 10 minutes for me to set because of perception or cultural stigma. up to “go” and return to my seat Bio relief can be embarrassing by nature and to resume the mission. Many humiliating in practice when we lack sufficient aviators sacrifice their normal functionality, funding, and supply to successfully bodily function by either holding and safely complete the mission. Let’s not sugar it in or “tactically dehydrating” coat it. It is a readiness issue, and being human is (deliberate dehydration to minimize the need to urinate) for integral to being a warfighter! the flight. The only thing more frustrating than not being Approach featured the relation able to pee safely or effectively in the plane is between dehydration and fatigue not being heard. I’m not the first aviator to openly in the article, “Hydration and confront this problem throughout the decades Fatigue: What’s the Connection?” and across multiple aviation communities. Why (Jul-Aug 2014) which highlights do we seemingly reach dead ends on this critical the negative effects of dehydration problem that affects the health of our aviators, on mental and physical safety of flight, and mission success? I’ll highlight performance. Simply put, aircrew some of these concerns with anecdotes through often resort to “not going” by the lens of my Hawkeye-Greyhound (HEGH) either means rather than dealing community, which remains underrepresented with subpar bio relief options, with on the issue of bio relief, yet strives to make both measures causing negative significant progress matter for all aviation impacts to the health and safety communities. While doing this, I’ll share voices of aircrew. from years past and recommendations for our collective future.
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Relief is not a small aside to the mission; in fact, lack of suitable bio relief options affect Naval Aviation readiness at its core. Underneath the surface, the problem is more than just about our bladders; it’s about inclusivity, equity, dignity, and above all—safety. The Navy spends exorbitant time and money to produce highly trained safe and lethal aviators but hasn’t sufficiently applied similar time, funding, and energy toward fully solving the bio relief dilemma. We haven’t fully realized progress despite repeated efforts by aviators, whose stories mirror my own, to make progress over the decades through published community articles, squadron-level, and community HAZREPS across T/M/S, or via Naval Aviation symposia. Today, over 17 years after a VAQ aviator wrote the March 2003 Approach article entitled, “Female Aviators Face a Dilemma: To Pee or Not To Pee,” the dilemma persists for men and women. And although bio relief tends to affect women disproportionately, it is a gender-neutral problem that depends on the type of survival equipment, aircraft, mission, weather, and even crewmember role. For instance, Aircraft Commanders flying with a less experienced pilot may never have the opportunity to relieve themselves. In addition, even if it were easy and convenient to go, many aircrews must still forego safety to unstrap from their seats to use Urinary Collection Devices (UCDs) or relief tubes. Moreover, the struggle is
