Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Suffering Of An American Drone Operator

Drone operators at Holloman Air Force Base in the southwestern state of New Mexico: Modern warfare is as invisible as a thought, deprived of its meaning by distance. Gilles Mingasson/ DER SPIEGEL

Joystick Warfare Hell: The Suffering of an American Drone Operator -- Spiegel Online

Much has been made of the devastating impact American drones have on civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan. One soldier's story shows that it can also adversely affect the lives of those who operate the remote-controlled weapons. Former servicemember Brandon Bryant is still haunted by images of the injured and dying.

For more than five years, Brandon Bryant worked in an oblong, windowless container about the size of a trailer, where the air-conditioning was kept at 17 degrees Celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit) and, for security reasons, the door couldn't be opened. Bryant and his coworkers sat in front of 14 computer monitors and four keyboards. When Bryant pressed a button in New Mexico, someone died on the other side of the world.

Read more ....

My Comment: The reality is that drone warfare is just as messy and bloody as any other form of warfare. The difference is that you are not there physically .... but you are there mentally and (more importantly) spiritually.

1 comment:

Technician 101 said...

The level of expertise is also a determining factor in the forklift operator salary. The break down for this vocational career salary are as follows: The entry-level income for this career is $8.01 per hour. Workers who have 1 to 4 years of work experience get an average of $8.96 per hour while those who have more than 20 years behind them are paid $10.09 or more. Average Wage of Forklift Operator