# Those crazy drone pilots again.



## RackMaster (May 4, 2017)

They have it rough...

'I Can’t Feel My Toes': Read Chilling Testimonials from US Drone Pilots


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## EasyDay (May 4, 2017)

Its not mud and blood hard, its morally hard.

I have read about some drone pilot who had over 1,600 kills he participated in.  And its not shoot and scoot, you then need to fly over make a damage eval and in some cases watch the guys you blew up bleed to death. Lets not get into collateral damage...
Just saying its not an easy job. Many drone pilots burn out or turn to drugs, its not all AC and video games for those guys.


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## CDG (May 4, 2017)

Lol.  Eight consecutive instruction days and you're burned out?  Ok man, whatever. The trailer is too cold? The drive is long?  GTFO.


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## Topkick (May 4, 2017)

EasyDay said:


> Its not mud and blood hard, its morally hard.
> 
> I have read about some drone pilot who had over 1,600 kills he participated in.  And its not shoot and scoot, you then need to fly over make a damage eval and in some cases watch the guys you blew up bleed to death. Lets not get into collateral damage...
> Just saying its not an easy job. Many drone pilots burn out or turn to drugs, its not all AC and video games for those guys.



I am sure its not easy to pull that trigger, but trust me, guys on the ground see it more up close and personal.


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## CDG (May 4, 2017)

EasyDay said:


> Its not mud and blood hard, its morally hard.
> 
> I have read about some drone pilot who had over 1,600 kills he participated in.  And its not shoot and scoot, you then need to fly over make a damage eval and in some cases watch the guys you blew up bleed to death. Lets not get into collateral damage...
> Just saying its not an easy job. Many drone pilots burn out or turn to drugs, its not all AC and video games for those guys.



How would you know?


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## Gunz (May 4, 2017)

My bros and I shot a lot of people. We had the most kills of any Combined Action Platoon in our company. Close quarters, and we carried the bods out tied to bamboo poles. And you know what? EKIAs don't bother any of us. In the least. If there are any deaths that effect us and cause us distress, it is the deaths of our fellow Marines and brothers. Fuck the bad guys. I get tired of hearing about these drone dudes and their PTSD issues.

Talk to me when you can touch it and smell it. Other than that, STFU and do your job. And be happy in the air conditioning in Vegas.


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## Topkick (May 4, 2017)

EasyDay said:


> Its not mud and blood hard, its morally hard.
> 
> I have read about some drone pilot who had over 1,600 kills he participated in.  And its not shoot and scoot, you then need to fly over make a damage eval and in some cases watch the guys you blew up bleed to death. Lets not get into collateral damage...
> Just saying its not an easy job. Many drone pilots burn out or turn to drugs, its not all AC and video games for those guys.



I for one am glad you are here because we need you to carry on with the future mission, but this hits home with a lot of us and unless you have been in the suck I wouldn't recommend elaborating on this subject too much.


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## Ranger Psych (May 4, 2017)

I would turn in my blue ID and take perma-5 for the duration to run a fucking drone for what time I would need to do for a total 20 TIS.

Drone operators should be a dedicated medical reclass position, not an initial entry choice/assignment.


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## Topkick (May 4, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> I would turn in my blue ID and take perma-5 for the duration to run a fucking drone for what time I would need to do for a total 20 TIS.
> 
> Drone operators should be a dedicated medical reclass position, not an initial entry choice/assignment.



Outstanding! But of course, not all medical reclass knuckleheads should be offered this job


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## Diamondback 2/2 (May 4, 2017)

Ocoka said:


> My bros and I shot a lot of people. We had the most kills of any Combined Action Platoon in our company. Close quarters, and we carried the bods out tied to bamboo poles. And you know what? EKIAs don't bother any of us. In the least. If there are any deaths that effect us and cause us distress, it is the deaths of our fellow Marines and brothers. Fuck the bad guys. I get tired of hearing about these drone dudes and their PTSD issues.
> 
> Talk to me when you can touch it and smell it. Other than that, STFU and do your job. And be happy in the air conditioning in Vegas.



I concur 100%, when it takes you a week to get rid of that smell of burning flesh, or you have to wash the blood of your buddy out of your uniform, gun truck, collect his teeth and bits of bone and ask your PL what to do with it. Then tell me how fucking hard the video game job is...


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## Diamondback 2/2 (May 4, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> I would turn in my blue ID and take perma-5 for the duration to run a fucking drone for what time I would need to do for a total 20 TIS.
> 
> Drone operators should be a dedicated medical reclass position, not an initial entry choice/assignment.



Agreed, I'd do the same, and know more than a few dudes at the WTB wanted to do the same...


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## AWP (May 4, 2017)

Cold? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's for the equipment you worthless, whiny shits. I see the same thing at work and the DO's response: put on a jacket.

Let me clue some of you in to a hard fact: heat damages equipment. Yeah, yeah, the manufacturers rates it across some ludicrous temperature range, but the fact remains our mean time between failure increases as the temp increases. Some of your gear isn't cheap or easily obtained. A 5 degree change in our server room's ambient temperature doesn't equal a 5 degree change in the equipment's internal temp; it is much higher. Even seen an Ops floor go midnight because the ops personnel were too cold and blocked the HVAC ducts? Not pretty, but they continue to do this because....they are cold.

Suck it the fuck up and bring a jacket.

Also, I've seen plenty of pred porn with body parts flying, including women and children. You know what should really bother you? A flag-covered box at a ramp ceremony. I have ZERO sympathy for a drone crew and their emotional or physical problems. A few weeks in the Kunar or down Route Irish could cure a lot of that....

One more thing: fuck you and your cold feet.


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## arch_angel (May 4, 2017)

Man, I seriously had to read that article twice in order to convince myself that it wasn't from duffleblog.


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## CDG (May 4, 2017)

arch_angel said:


> Man, I seriously had to read that article twice in order to convince myself that it wasn't from duffleblog.



When I saw the title, I thought for sure it was.  I was reading it, thinking, "No fucking way this is real. Are these people serious right now?  Am I reading an article about commutes and cold feet?".  These people must have never heard of Johnnie Yellock, Israel Del Toro, or August O'Neill.


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## Gunz (May 5, 2017)

PBS just aired a documentary called "National Bird."

I decided not to watch it. It was about whistleblower  ex drone pilots talking about the indiscriminate carnage and their PTSD struggles.

Nothing like balling on national TV to backup your benefits claim.


PS. Paul Tibbets went to his grave with a clear conscience, never once during his lifetime did he ever doubt the necessity of his mission.


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## Marine0311 (May 5, 2017)

GTFO with that shit. I was a grunt in Iraq. Blood, sweat and tears for like 6 months.

I'll be a drone pilot all day push the button and sleep like a baby after.


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## x SF med (May 5, 2017)

AWP said:


> Yeah, yeah, the manufacturers rates it across some ludicrous temperature range, but the fact remains our mean time between failure _decreases _as the temp increases.



FIFY...  if the failure cycle increases then the actual mean time between failure decreases, giving you more failure incidents in the same number of hours/days etc...  or did I read what you meant wrong?


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## Ranger Psych (May 5, 2017)

x SF med said:


> FIFY...  if the failure cycle increases then the actual mean time between failure decreases, giving you more failure incidents in the same number of hours/days etc...  or did I read what you meant wrong?



temp up, lifetime down. Part of why my frankengeek doom box has 3krpm fans.  Sounds like a jet if I am full tilt gaming, but thats ok, because I know it will last....and everyonr near it uses headphones anyway.


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## DocIllinois (May 5, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> temp up, lifetime down. Part of why my frankengeek doom box has 3krpm fans.  Sounds like a jet if I am full tilt gaming, but thats ok, because I know it will last....and everyonr near it uses headphones anyway.



Not being a gamer, envisioning this...




Although, this is how my Infantry meat head envisions drone pilots at work, so what do I know?


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## Ranger Psych (May 5, 2017)

guts

front facing bitz




in action





To be honest, I could most likely run a drone rather well from the comfort of my own home.  Double sign me up if I can say "fuck formations" and telecommute.


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## Marauder06 (May 5, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> To be honest, I could most likely run a drone rather well from the comfort of my own home.  Double sign me up if I can say "fuck formations" and telecommute.



I've often thought that if they could mount a laser to those things and let me burn ISIS bitches up all day long, I'd happily do that job from the comfort of my own living room.  And sleep well at night.  EVERY night.

...I wouldn't even complain about it being cold :)


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## Ranger Psych (May 5, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> I've often thought that if they could mount a laser to those things and let me burn ISIS bitches up all day long, I'd happily do that job from the comfort of my own living room.  And sleep well at night.  EVERY night.
> 
> ...I wouldn't even complain about it being cold :)



Half helium, half water, asjustable self sealing clear blimp.  Use it as a magnifying glass for daytime engagements.

Still think we need to put up mylar frameworks for solar reflectors using ion thrust + gyroscopic attitude adjustment.....   Oh, hiding in a cave?  Magma encasement, go.....


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## Marauder06 (May 5, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> Half helium, half water, asjustable self sealing clear blimp.  Use it as a magnifying glass for daytime engagements.
> 
> Still think we need to put up mylar frameworks for solar reflectors using ion thrust + gyroscopic attitude adjustment.....   Oh, hiding in a cave?  Magma encasement, go.....


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## Ranger Psych (May 5, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> View attachment 18651


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## Gunz (May 5, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> View attachment 18650
> guts
> 
> front facing bitz
> ...



That is the most freaking awesome setup I've ever seen. If I had that my wife would leave me, my kids would leave me, my animals would leave me, and I'd never know they were gone...


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## Ranger Psych (May 5, 2017)

Ocoka said:


> That is the most freaking awesome setup I've ever seen. If I had that my wife would leave me, my kids would leave me, my animals would leave me, and I'd never know they were gone...



MC had no problem with me building it, as it made work easier. 

Right now I just get to play with either the laptop, tablet, or Gear VR in the truck.  Once I buy my own truck, I will build a dedicated truck system...


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## Marauder06 (May 5, 2017)

Maybe the enlisted pilots won't be so fragile.

First enlisted RPA pilots graduate 

Also, I love how they only used first names in the article.  Wonder why they didn't black the eyes in the pic too.


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## arch_angel (May 5, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> Maybe the enlisted pilots won't be so fragile.
> 
> First enlisted RPA pilots graduate
> 
> Also, I love how they only used first names in the article.  Wonder why they didn't black the eyes in the pic too.



They went through all of that trouble keeping things on a first name basis....and then went on to say that they'd be in a pretty specific location on a pretty specific date....

I thought enlisted guys flew the unmanned systems already? The exception being armed systems which have to be piloted by officers. Or am I missing something?


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## Ranger Psych (May 5, 2017)

arch_angel said:


> They went through all of that trouble keeping things on a first name basis....and then went on to say that they'd be in a pretty specific location on a pretty specific date....
> 
> I thought enlisted guys flew the unmanned systems already? The exception being armed systems which have to be piloted by officers. Or am I missing something?



I guess I don't understand why the armed systems need to be piloted by O's, when they could just as easily just have a Fire Direction O, like on some multiweapon platforms, that just functions ss part of the "kill chain" onboard.  Enlisted guys do the targeting and pull the trigger, 2 O's concur and flip the safety off.


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## Marauder06 (May 5, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> I guess I don't understand why the armed systems need to be piloted by O's, when they could just as easily just have a Fire Direction O, like on some multiweapon platforms, that just functions ss part of the "kill chain" onboard.  Enlisted guys do the targeting and pull the trigger, 2 O's concur and flip the safety off.



I'm not sure on this either, I thought someone explained to me once that the AF requires its drone drivers to be licensed and AF-accredited pilots, which apparently until now was only available to officers.


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## CDG (May 5, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> I'm not sure on this either, I thought someone explained to me once that the AF requires its drone drivers to be licensed and AF-accredited pilots, which apparently until now was only available to officers.



Correct.  The USAF doesn't like entrusting things to the lowly enlisted man.


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## AWP (May 5, 2017)

x SF med said:


> FIFY...  if the failure cycle increases then the actual mean time between failure decreases, giving you more failure incidents in the same number of hours/days etc...  or did I read what you meant wrong?



I can't math right now so I'll just agree with you and move on with life. The higher the temps, the more stuff breaks. Numbers and stuff or something and words and coffee...


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## Gunz (May 5, 2017)

Plenty of NCO pilots in the RAF during WW2. And Chuck Yeager never went to college. Anybody with a brain can fly, properly trained, and anybody--properly trained--can pull a trigger.

Maybe it's just an AF thing, but IMV, Marine E4s handle more responsibility than many AF E5s and E6s.


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## arch_angel (May 5, 2017)

CDG said:


> Correct.  The USAF doesn't like entrusting things to the lowly enlisted man.


That's so crazy....There are E4's and E5's piloting UAVs in the Marine Corps. Not only that, but most of them were given pretty hefty ($10's o thousands hefty) to lateral move into the MOS. Based on some of the stories I'm reading on Reddit, most of them absolutely hate it. 

The exception to this is the newish Officer MOS for armed systems. Anything that drops munitions requires an Officer in that field (based on what very little information I've been able to dig up).


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## Kraut783 (May 5, 2017)

Marauder06 said:


> Maybe the enlisted pilots won't be so fragile.
> 
> First enlisted RPA pilots graduate
> 
> Also, I love how they only used first names in the article.  Wonder why they didn't black the eyes in the pic too.



Well now the UAV program will actually be successful....


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## EasyDay (May 5, 2017)

Ranger Psych said:


> I guess I don't understand why the armed systems need to be piloted by O's, when they could just as easily just have a Fire Direction O, like on some multiweapon platforms, that just functions ss part of the "kill chain" onboard.  Enlisted guys do the targeting and pull the trigger, 2 O's concur and flip the safety off.



Just pointing out that the enlisted guys control the laser and the O pulls the trigger and manually flies the drone.


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## Ooh-Rah (May 6, 2017)

Yeah so...this will go over well....

US military drone footage streamed on the internet | Daily Mail Online

Military drone recordings were accidentally streamed on the internet.

The US government appears to have accidentally streamed footage of a military-style drone.

The video appears to be recording thousands of feet above northwest Florida, over the coast, with the camera aimed at random civilian boaters.

Experts have deduced that the footage came from Predator drones, which are primarily used by the Air Force and CIA to record an area right before a missile is dropped.


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## Kraut783 (May 6, 2017)

Meh....I see no issue with training like that....all in a public area, and hoping it was nothing but training.

now the streaming to the internet....unacceptable. time to fire the contractor.


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## Ooh-Rah (May 19, 2017)




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## Gunz (May 19, 2017)

Ooh-Rah said:


> *The video appears to be recording thousands of feet above northwest Florida, over the coast, with the camera aimed at random civilian boaters.*




It's @Il Duce testing his new powers from Ft Meade.


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## Il Duce (May 19, 2017)

Ocoka said:


> It's @Il Duce testing his new powers from Ft Meade.



Real-time intelligence that can be definitively confirmed or denied?  Foolish @Ocoka - your imagining of national intelligence is so 1975.  :-"


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## Gunz (May 19, 2017)

Il Duce said:


> Real-time intelligence that can be definitively confirmed or denied?  Foolish @Ocoka - your imagining of national intelligence is so 1975.  :-"


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## Blizzard (Jul 18, 2017)

Researcher, security forces bring new counter-UAS program to Bagram Air Field > U.S. Air Force > Article Display

"The drone pilots wear aviator sunglasses and have an aura of swagger around them, as they take pride in being at the forefront of tactical development." :-"


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## Kraut783 (Jul 18, 2017)

Oh geeez....article would have been fine...but that picture?  so much fail.


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## Marauder06 (Jul 18, 2017)

Kraut783 said:


> Oh geeez....article would have been fine...but that picture?  so much fail.


I can smell the PTSD from here...


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## AWP (Jul 18, 2017)

Blizzard said:


> "The drone pilots wear aviator sunglasses and have an aura of swagger around them, as they take pride in being at the forefront of tactical development." :-"



Having spent years upon years at Bagram, I've seen AFSF at work. I don't even need to read the article.


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