Rather strange to have this post right next to the one about World Laughter Day, but perhaps it makes more sense than one would think at first. You can bet there's no frivolity in the Air Force Distributed Common Ground Station, where young soldiers sit in front of computer screens, for an average of eight hours at a time, manning the unmanned drones we are using more and more in our wars.
There are drones that launch weapons at targets, and there are drones that film areas so that the analysts can help the soldiers in the field. Acknowledging that the stress on these men and women is huge does not ignore the deplorable fact that, since 2002, drone strikes have killed an estimated 900 civilians and wounded another 1,200 in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.
These are all casualties. "They are so young," says Air Force Maj. Shauna Sperry of the analysts. A psychologist, Sperry has worked in the Station since November. "They do what they have to do, but there is a toll that is taken": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wood/obama-drone-war_b_3149660.html
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