Drone Pilots Experience As Much Stress As Pilots of Manned Aircraft

[Chava61]

In the first study of its kind, researchers with the Defense Department have found that pilots of drone aircraft experience mental health problems like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress at the same rate as pilots of manned aircraft who are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/us...t-do.html?_r=0

[jim9251]

I'm sure pilots who actually fly combat missions will disagree, but that is an interesting article.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by jim9251

I'm sure pilots who actually fly combat missions will disagree, but that is an interesting article.

Well combat pilots are in actual physical danger whereas drone pilots are not. But the article is claiming that the stress levels are similar.

[GregW]

If you have any conscience whatsoever killing people remotely is probably more psychologically damaging than killing them in a close range gunfight. It takes a special kind of person to send a rocket powered bomb to kill a guy in a wheelchair. I would call a drone pilot another kind of sniper. Both kill people from a long way off.

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by GregW

If you have any conscience whatsoever killing people remotely is probably more psychologically damaging than killing them in a close range gunfight. It takes a special kind of person to send a rocket powered bomb to kill a guy in a wheelchair. I would call a drone pilot another kind of sniper. Both kill people from a long way off.

I would say it's more of the stress of picking the right target and possibly killing an innocent. But, even manned aircraft nowadays is becomming a video game, where you don't even have to be in the same time zone as your target. Maybe it's a reflection of how much less stress a combat pilot has nowadays compared to previous ages when they were engaged in visual targeting, manual controls, and air to air combat. There is contravery now in that droned pilots are even given medals that are exceeding some combat medals.

And as far as killing and snipers, there is no stress on killing the enemy that is killing your friends, there is only satisfaction. I will leave you with one well known exchange:

Bleeding heart reporter: "It must be terrible for you to take a human life, what do you feel when you pull the trigger on a human?"
Sniper: "Recoil"