Are Some Drone Pilots Suffering From 'Sniper Syndrome'?

Photo: Early concerns were that UAV pilots would treat conflict like a computer game. (Reuters via USAF)

ABC News Online: Modern soldiers can kill a target on computer, then head home for dinner — and it's giving them 'moral injury'

The recent bombing of Saudi oil facilities by unmanned aerial vehicles has raised a number of questions about drones.

But one area that has seen considerable interest already is the problem of "moral injury" in drone pilots.

Instead of being shielded from the psychological and emotional impacts of warfare, drone pilots instead face the risk of "moral injury".

When drones were first being used for military operations, there was a sense that these technologies would protect pilots from the harms of warfare.

As the vehicles could be remotely piloted, those pilots were no longer at risk of being shot down.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Concerns on how drone pilot handle the stress of their job have been around for the past few years .... Fatigue And Stress Is Taking Its Toll On U.S. Drone Pilots (November 10, 2015).

A Look At Some Of The U.S. Air Force’s Most Secretive Drone Squadrons

The Warzone/The Drive: Shedding Some Light On The Air Force's Most Shadowy Drone Squadron

We've been able to uncover a lot of details about the secretive reconnaissance squadron and an obscure detachment that preceded its establishment.

One of the U.S. Air Force’s most secretive drone squadron appears to have been hiding, at least in part, in plain sight for at least five years. Following an in-depth investigation, including official statements and information we previously obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, we at The War Zone can now provide an exclusive and unprecedented look at what is now known as the 44th Reconnaissance Squadron and offer insight as to what tasks the shadowy unit might be performing today.

The 44th Reconnaissance Squadron officially stood up at Creech Air Force Base on April 1, 2015. At that time, it joined the 732nd Operations Group, part of the Air Force’s main drone unit, the 432nd Wing, which also calls the base located north of Las Vegas in Indian Springs, Nevada home.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Another sign on how drones have become a critical part of the U.S. military.

How The U.S. Missied The Chance To Kill ISIS Leader Al Baghdadi Years Ago

FOX News: Obama's Team Had the Chance to Kill ISIS leader Al Baghdadi -- And They Blew It

Editor's note: The following column is excerpted from the new book “Drone Warrior” by Brett Velicovich and Christopher S. Stewart.

The U.S. military had the leader of ISIS in its crosshairs years before he became the most wanted terrorist in the world — but the bureaucratic suits in Washington let him get away.

In 2011, a secretive U.S. special operations task force was orbiting a drone above a house in Baghdad, Iraq where they had new intelligence that the notorious terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had bunkered down for a meeting with his top ISIS lieutenants. A call went out from our headquarters and then back to higher-ups in the States: we’ve got him, can we take him out?

Our secretive targeting units had been hunting al-Baghdadi for years before he was known to the public, pushing him deeper and deeper in the shadows. Our weapon was mainly Predator MQ-1 drones equipped with two laser-guided AGM-114P Hellfire missiles, and a separate team of special operators able to finish off targets we had acquired from the ground.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Brett Velicovich is pushing his book "Drone Warrior". For more reviews and discussions on this book, check out the links below.

Drone soldier missed killing notorious ISIS chief by mere minutes -- NYPost
Drone expert: For al-Baghdadi to still be alive takes a ‘brilliant mind’ -- The Hill
"Drone Warrior" Brett Velicovich on the "incredible responsibility" of hunting terrorists -- CBS
Brett Velicovich describes hunting the ISIS leader with drones (Video) -- CBS
Let’s Start By Talking About a Typical Day Working with Ballistic-Armed Drones -- Mother Jones
What Drone Warfare Does to a Soldier's Brain -- GQ

Drone Pilots And Hackers Are Being Recognised By The U.S. Air Force For Their Service

Capt. Ryan Jodoi flies an MQ-9 Reaper as Airman 1st Class Patrick Snyder controls a full-motion video camera at Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan, March 13, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

Business Insider: The Air Force is updating its awards to recognize drone pilots and hackers

US airmen tasked with jobs like surveillance and cyber operations have a growing role on the battlefield, even though they are often physically distant from it.

To ensure that kind of work is recognized, the Air Force has introduced new hardware for its service men and women.

"As the impact of remote operations on combat continues to increase, the necessity of ensuring those actions are distinctly recognized grows," Defense Department officials said in a memo published on January 7, 2016.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Drone pilots are now playing a critical role in almost every conflict that the U.S. is in now .... it is only natural that they be recognised for what they are doing. As for hackers .... the main stream media is certainly making the case on how important they are with each new report of a cyber attack.

These U.S. Soldiers Commute To Work - And To War - Each Day.

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

BBC: The US Air Force's commuter drone warriors

In the past, soldiers went off to war and left their families behind. But drone pilots commute to work - and to war - each day. Vin Ray was given rare access to the only US Air Force base devoted entirely to flying drones, where he discovered the pilots' strange double life.

If you're a drone pilot, there's a strong possibility you live in Las Vegas. And your commute to work is against the traffic.

We were told to drive northwest out of the city on Interstate-95. The road stretches out through the barren, inhospitable scrub of the Nevada desert.

Pay attention, we were told, because the signpost is small. In fact, it's very small. But we eventually arrived at our destination: Creech US Air Force Base, a small, flat, city in the desert. And the only air base devoted to flying drones.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: It must definitely be surreal.

Giving Drone Pilots The Recognition That They Deserve

Image: Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Air Force

Charles G. Kels, National Interest: Drone Warriors Deserve More Than a Consolation Prize

Fighting at a distance is still fighting.

Ever since David felled Goliath with a slingshot, militaries have sought to deal death from a distance. Whereas David’s ingenuity earned him accolades and glory, his successors in asymmetric warfare are often derided for their physical remove from the battlefield.

On January 7, the Pentagon officially laid to rest a long-simmering controversy over how its drone and cyber warriors should be recognized for their innumerable contributions to America’s post-9/11 conflicts. After a lengthy review of its decorations and awards program, the military debuted an “R” device that can be affixed to preexisting awards “to specifically recognize remote but direct impact on combat operations.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: It will take a generation or two before drone pilots get the attention and credit that is due.

Are Drone Pilots Heroes?

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

Scott Beauchamp, Defense One: Drone Pilots Are Breaking the Old Definitions of Valor

Traditional notions of heroism don't always leave room for those U.S. troops engaged in high-tech, cutting edge warfare.

In November, the U.S. Air Force announced that it would, for the first time ever, use civilians to pilot drones. Technically, the CIA has had civilian drone pilots for years, but then, the CIA is a civilian agency. For a branch of the military, on the other hand, to outsource arguably its most cutting-edge piloting to contract workers is groundbreaking—and raises profound questions about what it means to be a soldier.

It’s no secret that the number of contractors operating in American war zones has skyrocketed. In 2008 in Iraq, there were more contractors (163,446) on the ground than troops (146,800). And in 2009 in Afghanistan, there were 104,101 contractors but just 63,950 troops. The Global War on Terror is also a Global War for Hire.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: An interesting debate on what will define a war hero in the future, including the vital and growing role that civilians are now playing in conflict zones.

U.S. Air Force Wants To Double The Number Of Drone Pilots

US Air Force officials announced last month that enlisted personnel will be allowed to operate drones for the first time, such as this RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone being secured for towing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. (US Air Force/Miranda Moorer)

Military.com: Air Force Looks to Double Number of Drone Pilots

The US Air Force wants to double the number of units flying drones and recruit more pilots to decrease the burden on current crews as demand for the missions soars.

The Air Force also recently allowed enlisted airmen to become drone pilots for the first time as the military increasingly uses unmanned aircraft for surveillance, protecting US soldiers on the ground and attacking targets.

The only drone pilots in Ohio are based at the Springfield Air National Guard Base. The 178th Operations Group flies the MQ-1 Predator overseas from Springfield.

WNU Editor: On a side note .... I predict that with time this is going to be big .... Extreme drone racing event held in Vegas (NBC).

U.S. Air Force Looking For Some Good Drone Pilots

U.S. Reaper drones at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. One is armed with two 500-lb bombs. Source: GlobalPost

Wall Street Journal: Air Force Looks Beyond Officers to Boost Drone-Pilot Ranks

Enlisted personnel will be allowed to operate RQ-4 Global Hawk, possibly other platforms in the future.

The U.S. military’s increasing demand for drones has forced changes in the Air Force’s “flyboy” culture over the years, plucking pilots out of the cockpit and sending some to high-tech desert trailers to operate remotely piloted aircraft, leaving their proverbial white scarves at home.

As the need keeps rising for drones and their valuable ISR—intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance—due to the rise of Islamic State and other threats, the Air Force is embarking on yet another cultural shift. For the first time, it is allowing enlisted personnel, not just officers, to pilot some drones.

The Air Force historically has required drone pilots to be officers. But this month, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced a series of moves to alleviate some of the stress on the drone crews that operate craft such as the MQ-1 Predator and its advanced cousin, the MQ-9 Reaper.

WNU Editor: It all comes down to training.

Civilian Contractors Are Now being Hired By The Pentagon To Fly Drones For Combat Patrols

A Predator drone flies a training mission over Victorville last year. The robotic plane was controlled by a pilot on the ground at the U.S. Air Force 163d Reconnaissance Wing of the California National Guard at Southern California Logistics Airport. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

L.A. Times: Air Force hires civilian drone pilots for combat patrols; critics question legality

The Air Force has hired civilian defense contractors to fly MQ-9 Reaper drones to help track suspected militants and other targets in global hot spots, a previously undisclosed expansion in the privatization of once-exclusively military functions.

For the first time, civilian pilots and crews now operate what the Air Force calls "combat air patrols," daily round-the-clock flights above areas of military operations to provide video and collect other sensitive intelligence.

Contractors control two Reaper patrols a day, but the Air Force plans to expand that to 10 a day by 2019. Each patrol involves up to four drones.

WNU Editor: Cannot say that I am surprised. There are not enough drone pilots .... and the demand keeps growing.

Life As A 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

The Guardian: Life as a drone operator: 'Ever step on ants and never give it another thought?'

In a secluded room at an airbase in Nevada, young men hold the power of life and death over people thousands of miles away. Former servicemen tell their story.

When Michael Haas, a former senior airman with the US air force, looks back on the missions he flew over Afghanistan and other conflict zones in a six-year career operating military drones, one of the things he remembers most vividly is the colorful language airmen would use to describe their targets. A team of three would be sitting, he recalls, in a ground control station in Creech air force base outside Las Vegas, staring at computer screens on to which images would be beamed back from high-powered sensors on Predator drones thousands of miles away.

The aim of the missions was to track, and when the conditions were deemed right, kill suspected insurgents. That’s not how they put it, though. They would talk about “cutting the grass before it grows out of control”, or “pulling the weeds before they overrun the lawn”.

WNU Editor: The technology on waging war is changing .... and how it impacts soldiers who are waging it is also changing. The surprising thing (to me) is that you do not need to be in a war-zone to be impacted by a war .... that distance does not make a difference .... that even though you may be 8,000 miles away .... it will still scar you in the same manner if you were "over there".

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.

This Drone Warrior Has No Regrets After 11 Years

Royal Air Force Maj. Kevin Gambold monitors and pilots an MQ-1 Predator at Ali Air Base, Iraq, Jan. 10, 2008. Photo: Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder/U.S. Air Force

LT. Col. T. Mark McCurley, Politico: I Was a Drone Warrior for 11 Years. I Regret Nothing.

I'll never forget the time I prevented a young Predator pilot from making an illegal shot. The incident stands in stark contrast with the expert conduct that I typically witnessed from professional aviators flying the U.S. Air Force’s remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), commonly known as drones.

The Intercept’s recently released “drone papers” paint a picture of unprofessional and bloodthirsty behavior by the crews manning the Predator and other drones. Certainly, war is chaos, and mistakes do happen. But in my 11 years flying the Predator, I was satisfied to see how few actually did. While the “drone papers” would have you believe otherwise, drone pilots are subject to the exact same rigorous checks and balances used for all military operations—and then some. (After all, is there a difference between bombs dropped off a drone or a fighter?) And when we make a gross error, we also risk going to jail.

WNU Editor: A different take from this blog post two days ago .... A Look At The Drone Pilots Who Kill People From 7,800 Miles Away.

A Look At The Drone Pilots Who Kill People From 7,800 Miles Away

Reaper Sandstorm: Senior Airman Jason Epley

Kevin Maurer, Daily Beast: She Kills People From 7,800 Miles Away

Her name is ‘Sparkle.’ She operates a drone. She is sick of whiny boys. And she is perfectly OK with dealing out death.

Anne crawled out of bed in her North Las Vegas house around 10 p.m. and started to get ready for her shift.

She pulled her chestnut hair into a bun and slipped on her olive green flight suit. In the kitchen, she packed fruit to snack on during her shift and stuffed her schoolwork into her backpack-sized lunchbox just in case it’s a boring night. Most nights she doesn’t have a chance to open a book.

Giving her dog, a tan Sher-Pei/pit bull mix, one last pat, she left her house and joined thousands of other workers leaving for the midnight shift. Whi le most people were heading to hotels and casinos in town, Hubbard was on her way to Creech Air Force Base and a war. Anne, an Air Force staff sergeant, was—and still is—a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) sensor operator or “sensor.” At Creech, she is assigned to a reconnaissance squadron flying missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. Few weapons in the American arsenal are more relentless than the RPA fleet, often called drones. For more than a decade, the United States has flown RPAs over Afghanistan and Iraq, providing forces on the ground with an eye in the sky to spot terrorists and insurgents, and in most cases the firepower to destroy them.

WNU Editor: Considering what these men and women do .... and the missions that they perform .... some of these drone pilots are probably the most prolific killers in the U.S. military today.

Update: This is a cool story .... A drone pilot’s view of the mission to find “Lone Survivor” Marcus Luttrell (Washington Post).

Former US Military Personnel Are Urging Drone Pilots To Refuse Orders To Fly Attack Missions

RT: Air Force Times runs ad urging drone pilots to disobey orders

A US veterans’ organizations is running an advertisement in Air Force Times urging military drone operators to refuse orders to fly attack missions. This comes as the Air Force encounters trouble retaining drone operators due to the stress of the job.

The ad was funded by KnowDrones, an organization that aims to achieve an outright ban on the use of weaponized drones

Many argue that drone operators do not know what they’re getting into when they sign up for the job.

“What this ad is trying to do is to say, ‘look at this now, understand the consequences and follow your conscience and do the right thing,” KnowDrones coordinator Nick Mottern told RT. “Given the fact that the president and Congress won’t act to stop this, we’re appealing directly to the people who are being ordered to do the killing, and who have to bear the weight of this on their conscience to put a stop to it."

WNU Editor: A good number of ex-military personnel have signed this letter urging drone pilots to refuse orders to fly attack missions .... Former US military personnel urge drone pilots to walk away from controls (The Guardian). And while I doubt that this specific campaign will have an impact, it is still noteworthy because it is a sign of a trend that as drone operations continue to escalate, opposition to its use will probably also escalate.

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

Life As A Drone Pilot

The Telegraph: Armchair killers: life as a drone pilot

In the film Good Kill, Ethan Hawke plays a drone pilot troubled by his work. What's it really like to take a life from thousands of miles away with the push of a button?

Its nickname is Predator Porn, and Paul Rolfe used to watch it 12 hours a day. Sometimes it was horrific, sometimes it was life affirming; mostly it was just dull. But whenever fellow soldiers at his airbase in Nevada wandered past the "live feeds" from his console, he'd notice how their eyes would wander to the screen and have trouble looking away.

Small wonder. For the cameras on the Predator drones that Rolfe once operated offer a voyeuristic experience unlike no other.

Filmed from two miles up, but with a lens so powerful it feels like a hawk hovering at 100 feet, the cameras captured parallel lives in some of Iraq and Afghanistan's most hostile corners. On his screen at the Combined Joint Predator Task Force, 50 miles north of Las Vegas, Rolfe and his colleagues would watch locals going about their business, sometimes in the harsh light of the midday sun, sometimes in the black and white silhouettes of infrared night vision.

BBC: The Drone Operator Who Said 'No'

RT: ‘We didn’t even really know who we were firing at’ – former US drone operator

WNU Editor: The above video is from the BBC. Brandon Bryant .... a former drone pilot who has been credited for helping in the killing of 1,626 people during his 4 1/2 years with the program .... speaks about the mission that convinced him that it was time for him to stop.

The U.S. Air Force Tries To Retain Its Drone Pilots

An MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle takes off from Creech Air Force Base, Nev., May 11, for a training sortie over the Nevada desert. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson)

ABC News: Air Force Moves to Ease Drone Pilot Shortfall and Heavy Workload

WNU Editor: The drone program is a victim of its success. Today .... having drones flying overhead during military operations, surveillance, targeted strikes .... what was fantasy a generation ago is now standard. Unfortunately .... the need has grown significantly, and the ability to retain drone pilots and operators doubly so .... tat is why this shift in policy by the Air Force is long overdue.

More News On The US Air Force Changing The Work Environment And Benefits For Its Drone Pilots

Air Force raises monthly incentive pay for drone pilots -- Air Force Times
Air Force moves to ease stress on overworked U.S. drone pilots -- Reuters
‘Unrelenting’ need for drones will prompt changes in Air Force -- Washington Post
Air Force taking steps to fill drone pilot shortage -- FOX News/AP
Drone Pilots to Be Paid More by U.S. Air Force to Ease Shortage -- Bloomberg
U.S. Air Force Moves to Retain a Crucial Resource: Drone Pilots -- WSJ
Drone pilots stressed by long work hours fighting Mideast terrorists, Air Force says -- Washington Times
Drone Pilots Get a Serious Raise from the Air Force -- Defense Tech
‘Drone pilot crisis’: Pentagon promises pay rise to ‘stressed’ operators -- RT
Drones Need Humans, Badly; Pilots Getting More Dough -- Breaking Defense
Air Force turns to National Guard, Reserve to help quell drone pilot crisis -- Washington Times
Air Force Drone Pilot Crisis Years in the Making -- Sandra I. Erwin, National Journal

U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point’

Drone operators fly an MQ-9 Reaper training mission from a ground control station at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, in this U.S. Air Force handout photo taken October 3, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Airman 1st Class Michael Shoemaker/USAF/Handout

Dave Majumdar, Daily Beast: Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says

WNU Editor: The first sentence of this report sums it up ....

.... Too many missions and too few pilots are threatening the ‘readiness and combat capability’ of America’s unmanned Air Force, according to an internal memo.

and the last sentence explains why ....

.... fewer new troops enter the ranks while more and more veteran operators vote with their feet.