Drone Pilots

[rangerrebew]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unv9C2t7f5c



Video at the GCS (Ground Control Station) of typical UAV military operations showing the 2 person UAV team (Pilot and Sensor Operator) executing a countdown to an enemy target kill. UAVs are launched at actual combat locations but flight control, and weapons operations are done by a mix of military and contract personnel sitting in the USA, often in communication and coordination with on-the-ground units. Control is fully electronic "real time" via satellite uplink/downlink, including computer controlled loiter mode. Missions may be reconnaissance, search/rescue, employing sensors, psychological ops, and/or target identification and/or destruction. Currently only UAVs such as the Predators RQ/MQ-1 and MQ-9 Reapers are used by our military in overseas battle theaters to destroy enemy targets, while new exotic UAVs including gliders, and very small hovering units are operational and being developed and designed with unique functions for the future battlefield.

[GourmetDan]

I've read some stories told by drone pilots and some of them really get depressed and anti-social from what they have done.

[rangerrebew]

I've read some stories told by drone pilots and some of them really get depressed and anti-social from what they have done.

That may be and I heard the same about Col. Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay.  But post bombing interviews surely showed something different.

[GourmetDan]

That may be and I heard the same about Col. Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay.  But post bombing interviews surely showed something different.

I wouldn't want to do it.  Esp the stories where a kid comes around the corner after the missile has been launched.

[EC]

That may be and I heard the same about Col. Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay.  But post bombing interviews surely showed something different.

Depression and PTSD kicks in later. Sometimes much later. In the immediate aftermath - well, he'd just set off the biggest man made bang in history and was an international hero. I also recall hearing that in his later years he refused to talk about it at all.

In a lot of ways, I pity the drone pilots, the same way I pity fighter or bomber pilots, or the navy personnel who launch the seriously heavy weapons. They are removed from the damage and it's remote to them. To them it's pressing a button. Almost like a game. Then they see the footage from on the ground and realize - "Shit, I caused that." It's a sudden disconnect. Got to be hard on them.