High Drone Opperator Brunout Rate

From the reports read this week, the Pentagon has acknowledged the extremely high dropout rate of drone pilots.  It seems very strange that a job that was designed to reduce the stress on the modern soldier in fact leads to a remarkable high dropout rate.  The 30 percent dropout rate seems extremely high for a job that does not put the soldier in immediate danger.  Although the pentagon cites that being a drone pilot is has an added element given that the soldier must balance both going on combat missions during work and then resuming a seemingly normal life as they return to their homes and families.  It seems that it would be reasonable to expect that there would be a low dropout rate in drone warfare and that instances of PTSD are rare, but that added complication of having to balance professional killing and personal loving relationships is harder than just isolating oneself with one of the other.  Furthermore, the United States fails to consider how the human mind reacts to stalking a person and then being given the order to kill them after months on surveillance.  Traditionally when a pilot is ordered to kill, they fly the mission, drop the ammunition and fly away.  With targeting drone attacks there is a lot more precision involved and as a result the pilots are see their target for months.  Then, they watch them die, not able to pull away to miss the casualties they cause. 

            It is critical that the government focuses on solutions to this problem and works to create the same rehabilitation programs that soldiers returning home from war have.  In addition, the nation needs to look at the work structure that we put our soldiers through.  It seems absurd to demand long hours from the men and women that keep our country safe and then at the same time expect them to maintain normal family lives while in this vulnerable state.  There should be concern over the high burnout rate and the question should be raised as to if drone warfare is really that much better for soldiers (as previously argued because it is safer).  It does not seem better if it wreaks havoc on the mind of the soldier and renders soldiers useless.  If they are not able to perform their jobs as pilots they are not more useful than soldiers wounded in combat.  This kills the argument that drones are safer if the mental damage that these cause are just as problematic to the employment structure of the military as the in combat jobs.  The nation has spent so much effort in developing technology to take men out of traditional combat, instead they should devote some of this effort to helping soldiers cope with the stress of war (both drone fighters and more traditional soldiers).