PTSD In Drone Pilots Essay Example

The use of drones in warfare has become increasingly questionable in its morality. Though using drones exhibit a way to minimize casualties, the very act of indiscriminate destruction caused by these drones have been criticized. Drones have allowed for the killing of people at a more discreet and maneuverable manner. The very people who have piloted these drones appear to be the ones most traumatized by these acts. These pilots show signs of PTSD caused by their murder of innocent people who are casualties caused by collateral damage.
The problem with drones or with any other kinds of air strikes is the collateral damage which it makes. This means that its range can bring about an indiscriminate killing of innocent people. Drone pilots then, exhibit PTSD due to this reason. It should be noted though that these people joined the Air Force or the military in general and knew that at some point in time they will have to kill another person. What makes a difference then in the usage of drones is that it allows people to kill without any risk to their lives at all. This is different from guns which require its user to be in range to shoot. This range also means that its user is at risk of being shot to death as well. Drones then, as technician Cian Westmoreland mentions, can be likened to the nuclear bomb in its capacity to indiscriminately kill anyone in its range, whether they are civilians or enemies.
Westmoreland mentions that their being technicians have a huge impact on the murders committed by their technology. Although they are not the ones pulling the trigger, their active cooperation in its creation has also influenced him in the same way that J. Robert Oppenheimer felt about the atomic bomb. Westmoreland mentions of the indiscriminate targeting of people who are wearing white due to the stigma and its relationship with the Taliban. As part of the Air Force, he knew and mentioned that air strikes will have collateral damage and will indiscriminately kill anyone. These could be innocent people that were also hiding from the terrorists and enemies that they were trying to kill. Knowing then that he has helped in the murder of innocent people, Westmoreland began to question the morality and ethics of their actions.
Rather than simply being a case of developing PTSD as a result of committing murders, drone pilots and related people develop it due to having killed innocent bystanders. Despite also questioning the morality of the killings, they are also questioning its likeness to terrorism. Stephen Lewis, for example, after having killed one person started to question the use of drones in warfare. Lewis mentions of how he was instructed to kill an unarmed group of individuals. He mentions of how other drones have fired upon and killed the three while wounding the fourth, and of how he was subsequently ordered to fire upon the wounded man. Drones are changing warfare in that it has become more increasingly questionable morally and ethically. One reason that has impacted Lewis so much is that he killed an unarmed, wounded individual who may or may not be part of the terrorists. He mentions that this has resulted in him being unable to communicate properly with his friends and has ultimately killed his relationships with people. He likens the drone program to that of terrorism, which is supposedly the very existence that they have been fighting against.
The drones become a symbol of fear not only for the terrorists but also for the innocent people who see it, knowing that they may become victims of its indiscriminate murders. The same thing can be said for the terrorists who die not knowing that they have even been targeted. Drones then are becoming similar to nuclear weapons despite the difference in its intensity. Brandon Bryant, for example, mentions that only a few of the number of people they killed were actually combatants. He questions the program and narrates of how he saw the brutality of his murders. He questions the immorality of their killings and the conflict of interest in his persona that they are doing the right thing. His development of PTSD is also the same case as with Westmoreland and Lewis. They have all seen the indiscriminate killings of drones and have spoken out and questioned its moral and ethical issues. He mentions that the first kill will forever haunt him and described the subsequent ones as horrible and numbing. What is questioned here then is the usage of drones as a war machine in that it is instead simply an indiscriminate tool for murder.
The three pilots mentioned have become increasingly aware of the heaviness of their actions and murders. Whether they are directly or indirectly connected, they have all mentioned of how the drones rather serve as a form of terrorism which kills anyone caused by collateral damage. The very act of calling the program as an assassination is very apt in that it does not take into consideration other people that may very well be dragged into it. There is also the problem that these pilots are only following orders and do not really know whether the people they are killing are in fact, real enemies. This has led to traumas that have haunted them, influencing them into remembering their murders of innocent people. Despite their conviction of killing only the enemies and the bad people, these drone pilots have been subjected to committing murders they have never planned to commit in the first place.