U.S. Army And Air Force Drone Pilots Are Overworked, Understaffed And Under-Trained

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

Fiscal Times: Undertrained US Drone Pilots Put War Effort at Risk

The U.S. military is allowing pilots who haven’t fully completed their training to fly predator drones over Yemen and Pakistan—potentially putting innocent people on the ground at risk if something goes wrong.

An alarming new report by the Government Accountability Office found that drone pilots in the Army and Air Force have been skimping on their training sessions in order to get assigned to missions faster.

The GAO said that because there is a shortage of drone pilots, the Air Force and Army have been routinely speeding up the process by cutting training time.

“As a result, the Army does not know the full extent to which pilots have been trained and are therefore ready to be deployed,” the report said.

More News On GAO Report That States That U.S. Army And Air Force Drone Pilots Are Overworked, Understaffed And Under-trained

The Army’s drone pilots aren’t being trained because they’re too busy mowing lawns -- Washington Post
GAO: Army, Air Force drone pilots overworked, understaffed and under-trained -- Stars and Stripes
The US' drone pilots aren't getting enough training -- Endgadget
Vast Majority Of Military Drone Pilots On Crucial Missions Don’t Have Full Training -- Daily Caller