Congress wants the Department of Defense to study psychological effects of working with uncrewed weapons. Nestled inside the large National Defense Authorization Act currently making its way through the legislature is a section calling for a “comprehensive study” on how working with uncrewed aerial systems impacts troops’ mental health.
The defense bill, which passed the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate, covers everything from pay increases to upgrading an award to the Medal of Honor. Section 737 of this year’s NDAA calls for an “assessment of the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, burnout, moral injury, and other mental health conditions” among troops who either directly operate UAS, better known as drones, as well as indirectly deal with them. Defense Scoop first reported on the measure in the NDAA calling for the study.
The move comes as the United States military is rapidly expanding its arsenal of uncrewed systems and working to quickly integrate them into troops’ day-to-day operations and combat tactics. The Army is working to buy one million drones, and a memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from earlier this year emphasized the importance of drones, particularly smaller ones often deployed in swarms. The expansion is not limited to the Army, as efforts across the armed forces are underway to quickly adapt the prevalence of drones.
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The new rule would screen not just drone pilots themselves but also people who analyze footage from drones or work in targeting and personnel “deployed in non-combat roles,” such as maintainers. Per Congress, the study would also look at elements “unique” to the use of drones, such as sleep disruptions and witnessing lethal strikes remotely, including civilian casualties. Additionally it asks for a review of existing mental health programs already available to military personnel, specifically to see if they are “appropriately tailored” to the unique nature of drone operators.
The Pentagon has put more resources and efforts into addressing mental health, such as relatively new evaluations for troops as they transition out of active-duty service.
As experts told Defense Scoop, the study is likely to focus on the use of larger drones, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, that have been widely used during the Global War on Terror than on cheaper, first-person view drones that have become prevalent in Ukraine. The U.S. military’s experience with the latter is deeply limited compared to the former.
Per the NDAA text, an unclassified report on the study’s findings is due a year after the bill is enacted, including a list of recommendations on how to improve both screenings for mental health impacts on drone operators and treatment for any issues.
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Nicholas Slayton is a Contributing Editor for Task & Purpose. In addition to covering breaking news, he writes about history, shipwrecks, and the military’s hunt for unidentified anomalous phenomenon (formerly known as UFOs).