Fatigue And Stress Is Taking Its Toll On U.S. Drone Pilots

L.A. Times: Air Force struggles to add drone pilots and address fatigue and stress

Deep in the 60,000 acres of desert on this desolate air base, past a billboard that shows a Predator soaring in the sky, lies a high-security compound where America's drone pilots learn to hunt and kill from half a world away.

But "the Farm," as the little-known Air Force boot camp is known, faces a crisis.

Experienced pilots and crews complain of too much work, too much strain and too little chance for promotion operating the Predator and Reaper drones that provide surveillance and that fire missiles in Iraq, Syria and other war zones. Partly as a result, too few young officers want to join their ranks.

WNU Editor: The demand for drone pilots is only going to grow .... especially now where the focus is more on expanding the U.S. Air Force's drone fleet rather than its "manned" fleet.