CIA Drone Base In Saudi Arabia: Location Disclosed By The New York Times

If you'll check out the chart of military suicides, broken down by year and by service, in Diane Sweet's post Military Suicides: 154 in 155 Days you'll see that Air Force suicides for 2012 exceed Air Force suicides in any previous year, 18 for each of 2008 and 2009, 25 for 2010, 20 for 2011, and 32 for 2012.
No reason is given. But we know the Air Force now trains more drone pilots than conventional, and studies show how stressful drone piloting can be. They also find that being separate from the battlefield creates its own problems, since the drone pilot cannot aid his comrades directly and, as the main post points out, often sees a lot of the carnage he (or she) would not likely see in theatre.

So, since the spike in Air Force suicides corresponds directly with the uptick in drone killings, I think it's reasonable to conclude the spike of Air Force suicides is a result of the stress of drone warfare.

Turns out it's not as antiseptic and free of risk for the military as one might think.
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CIA Drone Base In Saudi Arabia: Location Disclosed By The New York Times

They say war is hell. Don’t believe it? Ask any of the US servicemen suffering from the battlefield blues, as a new study reveals that launching strikes overseas is overtly stressful, even from thousands of miles away from warzones.


According to new study released by the US Air Force, an overwhelming number of the pilots that command unmanned robotic drones from operation centers in America are suffering from intense stress, even if they are on the other side of the world from where their attacks are being carried out. With the US continuing drone strikes despite opposition from allies overseas such as Pakistan, the toll that the task of commanding the controversial crafts could be having on its pilots could be detrimental to the Department of Defense, who insists on pushing through with the program even with the end result including droves of dead civilians since the missions began.


When quizzed by Air Force personnel to gauge their level of stress on a scale of 0-to-10, with 10 representing the most stress, 46 percent of pilots commanding Reaper and Predator drones say that their stress level meets or exceeds a standing of 8 points, according to the new study.


Additionally among the findings is the fact that a smaller but significant number of pilots also suffer from what the Air Force describes as “clinical distress,” a condition which includes symptoms such as anxiety, depression and severe enough stress that job performance is impacted.
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CIA Drone Base In Saudi Arabia: Location Disclosed By The New York Times

REMOTE DRONE WARFARE: Robots Kill, But The Blood Is on Our Hands

Dreams in Infrared: The Woes of an American Drone Operator - Pain Continues After War For American Drone Pilot

From 2 Years Ago (It's only gotten worse) - Report: High Levels of 'Burnout' in U.S. Drone Pilots


Drones have even killed Americans in “friendly fire,” including on April 6, 2011, in Afghanistan. And there have been cases of drone “pilots” working in the United States committing suicide. They are suffering extremely high rates of stress and burnout, according to the Air Force, because while pilots who actually fly in planes often don’t see who they kill, drone pilots may watch a family for days and come to know their faces, only to blow them all up and watch the suffering.



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Extraordinary Rendition Report Finds More Than 50 Nations Involved In Global Torture Scheme

And how was it that Congress didn't question it, a 400 page document written before 9/11?  That bunch had been trying to pass it since Reagan.  I'd wager that 535 people could be selected at random off of blogs who have more integrity, loyalty and commitment to the nation and the Constitution than all of those who have been in office for the past 40 years.
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