Elevated level of stress in drone pilots

WASHINGTON: A US paper ' The Boston Globe' in its article has written that the drone pilots reported elevated levels of stress, signs of emotional fatigue and burnout.

The paper writes that much has been written on the psychological impact of the US drone war on the tribal areas of Pakistan. But little is known about the psychological impact of this remote-controlled war on the American drone pilots who steer the unmanned weapons through the skies of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

More than 1,000 Air Force pilots man the military’s drones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, gazing at video-game-like screens through cameras so powerful they can pick up a license plate number two miles away, the US paper writes.

Last year, the Air Force conducted its first-known study on the mindset of airmen operating these drones.

'The Boston Globe' further writes the six-month study looked at the stress levels and personality traits of drone pilots and sensor operators supporting US troops on the ground in Afghanistan. It did not include pilots who operate the CIA’s covert drone programs in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Iran.

46 percent of the drone pilots reported elevated levels of stress, and 29 percent reported signs of emotional fatigue and burnout, most blamed long hours and constantly changing shifts, due to a shortage of drone pilots and the military’s steadily increasing appetite for drones, the paper said.

Military psychologists have dubbed these feelings 'existential conflict.'