Another Tormented Drone Operator

[JHD]

your post...

Someone will probably say I am wrong to think this way, but why does the US insist on playing on an uneven field? I know we are trying to stick to the moral high ground, but until the enemy changes their way of thinking that by eliminating women and children they are reducing the future fighting force while demoralizing the current one, I don't have a lot of sympathy for them. They use our own morals against us using the human shields. But I know I am preaching to the choir.

 

[racing_kitty]

I have PTSD from looking in the mirror this morning.

Apparently the sarcasm in my last post wasn't quite as obvious as I thought.

Oops.... :wall:

 

[x SF med]

Apparently the sarcasm in my last post wasn't quite as obvious as I thought.

Oops.... :wall:

I took it to mean you had a rough night last night... and left it where it was, writhing in agony at the side of the road....:-"

 

[DA SWO]

I took it to mean you had a rough night last night... and left it where it was, writhing in agony at the side of the road....:-"

I just assumed she gnawed her hand off again and was getting a new one fitted.

 

[dknob]

I have PTSD from looking in the mirror this morning.

I have PTSD from looking at you this morning

 

[DA SWO]

I have PTSD from looking at you this morning

Which may explain why she felt the urge to gnaw an arm off.

 

[x SF med]

Which may explain why she felt the urge to gnaw an arm off.

Nah, in that case, it would have been his, not hers...

 

[amlove21]

Someone will probably say I am wrong to think this way, but why does the US insist on playing on an uneven field? I know we are trying to stick to the moral high ground, but until the enemy changes their way of thinking that by eliminating women and children they are reducing the future fighting force while demoralizing the current one, I don't have a lot of sympathy for them. They use our own morals against us using the human shields. But I know I am preaching to the choir.

Well, not being too idealistic here- but we stick to the moral high ground because history has shown us that those in power willing to disregard morals and ethics in favor of military victory are classically seen as tyrannical and oppressive given a couple decades/centuries to armchair quarterback it. After a while, it stops looking like we are "targeting the next wave of terrorists" and starts looking like we are "blowing up schools and mosques on the shakiest of predicators". "Liberating a population" looks much more like "genocide and ethnic cleansing" if seemingly blurry lines are crossed.

Easiest thought experiment here to illustrate my point- put yourself in their shoes, even if for a moment. An overwhelming and efficient military force takes over America. We have no recourse to defend ourselves, our way of life. Theocratic rule- and not our theocratic rule is imposed on us. Wouldn't the entirety of America be 'insurgents'? Wouldn't every blade of grass wave as those guns hidden behind them aimed at our oppressors, every road laced with IED's? And what would our reaction be to that force blowing up our children to prevent our country to ever rise again- because that's what we do if we allow strikes where children are the target. No, I do not weep when I see children as collateral targets- but no, I don't approve of rampant destruction of a target where children are the main occupiers, and I would be happy to think we keep to that moral high ground more often than we do not.

And yes, most of this opinion comes directly from the show Homeland, I just finished season 1 last night, so I am pretty much an expert on all of this stuff.

 

[JHD]

I know you are right, but it really bugs me that we play by the rules when our enemies don't. The rules of engagement, that pesky Geneva Convention, etc. but sinking to their level makes us lesser beings.

 

[x SF med]

But, But, But.... we use drones and the people on the joysticks are just really stressed and have airconditioning and might not get a bathroom break for like.... 2 hours... that's just torturous.... and inhumane...

 

[Marine0311]

This is fucking stupid. No drone operator should get anything of this level.

 

[Flagg]

Two months ago I ran 3x3 days on the small arms weapons simulator.

Like playing call of duty in a movie theatre.

After about day 7 it started giving me a headache.

I think I've got PTSD too.

 

[Crusader74]

Nice flight suit ...

 

[AWP]

Tonight over dinner I'm browsing one of the better comedy sites on the Internet, cracked.com, when I stumbled across this gem:

http://www.cracked.com/article_20725_6-myths-about-drone-warfare-you-probably-believe.html

Hell, this is Cracked so it's going to be funny, right?

Then I read this:

My name is Brandon Bryant, and I spent six years fighting America's wars via robot.

Fuck me running. THAT guy?

The work itself is grueling. You can't sleep. You can't read (I broke that rule more often than not). You can't do anything to entertain yourself but look at the screen. Now do that for three to five years, 11.5 hours a day. If you ask to take a break, you'll be told, "The guys overseas don't get breaks."

Oh. My. God.

Add it all up and drone pilots work half-day shifts with few breaks and no phone privileges, and 85 percent of the time there's no action. My greatest accomplishment as an operator was being part of the longest Predator mission ever flown. It had no missiles, just a buttload of fuel. We launched, flew the entire shift, left for the night, came back the next day, and jumped in on that drone -- which was still in the air. I flew it my entire shift and landed it that night.

FUCK those guys I helped, my big kudo is the longest mission ever flown.

You need a special code to get into each box, and you're pretty much alone with your partner for the duration of the shift. It's always kept at 68 degrees, so you're cold. And the lights are typically off. Over the years, the stench of each individual person gets sucked into the seat. A couple pilots and I came up with a mathematical equation for how many farts each seat absorbed over the course of the year. It was around 17,000.

Now I just hate these guys. Jackets? We don't need no stinkin' jackets. The temp in those rooms are for the equipment, not the dripping vaginas operating the equipment. Moron.

Drones are some of the highest-tech instruments of war ever designed. In fact, they're TOO high-tech for the brass to understand very well. They accept that new technology is inevitable, but they'll be damned if they're going to learn how it works. Think about when your grandparents finally caved and signed up for AOL. That's how well our officers understand drones.

Dude finally made some sense, but too late.

The best part is his Cracked user name: FallWithHonor. I assure you Brandon, there's nothing honorable about your antics. Nothing.

 

[Salt USMC]

To be fair, the way he described his job made it sound boring to the point of suicide.

 

[Marauder06]

Wow. If life is so hard, turn the drone program and the A-10s over to the Army. We'll find a way to make it work.

 

[LimaOscarSierraTango]

But, But, But.... we use drones and the people on the joysticks are just really stressed and have airconditioning and might not get a bathroom break for like.... 2 hours... that's just torturous.... and inhumane...

I am sure they have pittle packs...

 

[x SF med]

I am sure they have pittle packs...

Hey, that's the 2 liter bottle that truckers turn into offensive weapons.... right?

 

[LimaOscarSierraTango]

I've only seen the gatorade variety. 2-litres seems like a bit much.

 

[CDG]

Here's the newest article about America's frontline barrel-chested freedom fighters.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_26626251

While drone operators are not physically in harm's way — they do their work at computer terminals in darkened rooms far from the actual battlefield — growing research is finding they too can suffer some of the emotional strains of war that ground forces face.
"It can be as impactful for these guys as someone in a foxhole," said Air Force spokesman Tom Kimball.

Brandon Bryant manned the cameras for pilots at Air Force bases in Nevada and New Mexico for about five years.
He said he still suffers from insomnia, depression and nightmares three years after he participated in his last mission. He witnessed the direct killing of 13 people, and his squadron was credited with killing 1,626 enemies.
"I would go to sleep and dream about work, the mission, and continuously see the people I'd watched on the screen earlier now in my own head repeatedly being killed," he said, adding that he felt alone and that no one wanted to talk about it.