McCaskill: Drone warfare taking toll on pilots

WASHINGTON – Sen. Claire McCaskill has asked Air Force leaders to address a "unique form of combat stress" suffered by drone pilots engaged in remote surveillance and killing U.S. enemies.

These pilots are not physically on the battlefield in Iraq or Afghanistan; they operate instead from installations in the United States, including Whiteman Air Force Base.

But just like a pilot flying an F-16, drone pilots conduct deadly strikes on militant fighters abroad — often watching the resulting carnage unfold on live video. Then, they go home to their families or interact with the civilian world in ways that deployed soldiers do not.

A drone "pilot could be sitting down to a meal with his or her family less than two hours after killing Islamic State or Taliban fighters on the other side of the world," McCaskill, D-Mo., wrote in a June 18 letter to Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, the Air Force's chief of staff. "They could be playing with their children shortly after witnessing up close and in graphic detail the effects of a 500-pound bomb or Hellfire missile on a soft target."

McCaskill said she became concerned about the toll this new kind of warfare is taking on drone pilots after a recent visit to Whiteman, home of the 20th Reconnaissance Squadron.

That unit includes technicians, administrators and pilots who operate the MQ-1 Predator,an unmanned aerial vehicle used to gather intelligence and conduct deadly strikes. The Predator can carry two Hellfire missiles or other munitions.

Drones — which military officials referred to as "remotely piloted aircraft," or RPAs — have transformed modern warfare. They provide an accurate way to kill America's enemies, while minimizing risks for U.S. military personnel. The aircraft have become the Obama administration's weapon of choice to fight enemies in the mountains of Pakistan and elsewhere.

But a 2013 study by the Pentagon concluded drone pilots have a similar rate of mental health problems — such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder — as regular combat pilots. Other studies have found that drone pilots report high levels of stress, fatigue and burnout.

McCaskill said military personnel operating in a combat zone have resources on base to deal with the stress of war.

"It seems counterintuitive, but personnel at home may have less access to such resources given the strong desire to be home with family as much as possible," she said in her letter to Welsh. "While at Whiteman, I heard that some RPA pilots prefer to work a shift that finishes in the middle of the night because it gives them the opportunity to relax and decompress with their fellow airmen without feeling pressure to get home for dinner with their spouse and children."

The Missouri Democrat, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Welsh to detail the Air Force's plans to help pilots cope with this form of combat stress.

An Air Force spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on McCaskill's letter.

Contact Deirdre Shesgreen at dshesgreen@usatoday.com or follow me on Twitter @dshesgreen.