Brandon Bryant: Drones gave me PTSD
Y’all have been sending us this link all day from NBC about Brandon Bryant, the former drone operator from 2006 until 2011 when he left the service to be a media darling, apparently. He says that he killed 1,626 people from his desk chair in Nevada. I wonder if anyone, besides me, has bothered to do the math – that’s 325 people a year. Almost one a day for the entire time he was in the service, from day one at Basic Training. If it were true, and I doubt it, I’d say the drone program is doing a great job.
But we discussed Bryant in December and some of the folks who worked with him said that he was full of shit. His favorite story, he repeats in the NBC article – that he saw a child going into a goat shed just as he was blowing it up (because the US war machine hates goat sheds, for some reason) and he was wracked by the guilt of not aborting the Hellfire before impact. His mates said that there’s a delay in the video image, ya know, after going halfway around the world and all, so the missile had actually impacted on the goat shed by the time he saw the child on the video screen, if the story is even true.
His mates said that Bryant was actually a drone operator, but that none of the things he is telling the media is true. Besides, in the same character as Breanna Manning, Bryant isn’t supposed to be talking about anything he does, so it stands to reason that he’d tell the media stuff like this because none of it is true and he can’t get in trouble with his chain of command (he’s still in the IRR).
In the original post he told the Daily Mail that he “accidentally” joined the Air Force after the Army recruiter said he should join the Air Force. Yeah, I’m sure. I’m going to trust his mates on this one and file him under shitbag.
When he told a woman he was seeing that he’d been a drone operator, and contributed to the deaths of a large number of people, she cut him off. “She looked at me like I was a monster,” he said. “And she never wanted to touch me again.”
So why did he feel that he needed to tell this unknown woman that story? She probably knew he was lying, and a fan of TAH.
“she never wanted to touch me again”
Well, who would want to touch him, to begin with?
Come on! I can make up better stories than this baloney he’s been selling.
Telling the woman what he did had nothing to do with him being dumped. She couldn’t tolerate whiners and posers.
Ex, go read the comments at the first link. A some one once said, there’s a sucker born every minute.
@3 – Oh,I did that already. It’s pathetic.
Reading the story and the comments reminds me that we have passed the apex….
If his story was for one minute true, then I may have got the PTSD from playing too much IL2 1946 online or Microsoft Combat Flight simulator….
Does anybody THINK about what they do anymore? What the hell did he think he was doing flying drones — making flowers grow?
Yeah…PTSD my fuzzy butt. The only thing he probably suffers from is a scorching case of carpal tunnel syndrome.
“When he told a woman he was seeing that he’d been a drone operator, and contributed to the deaths of a large number of people, she cut him off.”
If by “woman” you mean the male blow up doll he was boring to tears…
What a goddamn drama queen.
Ask him questions point blank in front of others: he clams up.
Also when he speaks, he looks like a fucking dirtbag.
He loves making the college “peace” tour.
Loser.
“And she never wanted to touch me again.”
Right it had nothing to do with your oddly shaped head and you constant blathering….it’s because you were a stone cold remote control killer….whatever gets you through the night I guess…
Somebody is upset they didn’t get a drone medal.
I got his cyber warrior medal right here…
the Air Force after the Army recruiter said he should join the Air Force
“Yeah, I don’t need to make mission this month, you need to go across the hall and talk to THOSE guys!”
Said no recruiter EVER.
Hell, he didn’t even fly the things himself, or pulled the trigger, he was a sensor operator:
UAS Sensor Operators perform duties as a mission crew member on unmanned aerospace systems. They employ airborne sensors in manual or computer-assisted modes to actively and/or passively acquire, track, and monitor airborne, maritime and ground objects. Qualified personnel conduct operations and procedures in accordance with Special Instructions (SPINS), Air Tasking Orders (ATO) and Rules of Engagement (ROE). Crewmembers assist UAS pilots (who are commissioned officers) through all phases of employment to include mission planning, flight operations, and debriefings. Sensor Operators continually monitor aircraft and weapons systems status to ensure lethal and non-lethal application of airpower. At present, Air Force 1UOX1 specialists perform their duties on the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aero vehicles (UAVs).
No one forced him to be a sensor operator, you have your choice of jobs, usually before you even leave for BMT. What a tool.
Actually, NHSparky, I joined the Army because the AF recruiter pulled a similar stunt on me. The AF recruiter was supposed to come pick me up to take me to MEPS. He was late so I called him and he asked me if we could postpone it a little bit and he could take me to MEPS next week. My grandfather, who was in the military for 28 years, said it sounded like he had already met his quota and wanted to put me off a little bit. So when he called again, I told him I had reconsidered and was going with the Army instead. My Army recruiter jumped through hoops for me. HAHA
From the article – “As the man died his body grew cold, said Bryant, and his thermal image changed until he became the same color as the ground.”
Must have been a really really cold day. Or they watched the corpse for a looooooooooooong time.
So, this clown actually operated a camera on the drone – or so the article says. He would, then, be a camera operator, not a drone operator. They used to call those guys pilots, and they were officers.
Having taken some pics through the cockpit window didn’t make me a C-130 pilot either.
its not as easy as yall think dronin people brah, let me tell ya about this one time. i had been in the bush for nearly a month (at my chair for at least 3 hours) longin for nothing but a hot meal and a soft bed out of the rain (mcdonalds sounded good, i passed the tape test last week) when i saw the target we were looking for. the man looked right at me, i swear he knew i was coming for him. and right as the hell fire missle hit his tiny little shack with all his kids running around it (big compound, lots of hajis shooting their guns in the air) i felt a little piece of my own soul die. yall cant understand what its like out there, its hell on earth.
If everyone has PTSD, and it seems that everyone does, then doesn’t PTSD become the “new normal” and, therfore, no longer compensable? I am kidding, of course–I think.
Hey, you know, why don’t you just ask me?
I’m not being paid, I’m not getting any sort of VA compensation. I’m trying to tell people the truth of warfare. Examine the information first.
I didn’t personally kill 1600+ people. I participated in operations that resulted in that many people dying.
Also, I’m not a pilot nor have I ever claimed to be.
@20 then those of us without it would be in the minority and entitled to some sort of compensation for the misfortune of remaining healthy?
@19. …And then I went to McDonald’s.
also, I think you should stay away from the dailymail
@24
Welcome. Present your case.
HEY I got PTSD from playing with myself.
Penile Tenderization Spanking Disorder.
/just like *this* douche.
“I’m trying to tell people the truth of warfare.” What, that people die and sometimes die gruesome deaths?
“I didn’t personally kill 1600+ people. I participated in operations that resulted in that many people dying.’ What does that mean, “participated in operations”? You didn’t pull a trigger but you were in the general area? That you got the triggerman coffee? WTH does that mean?
So, the rest of the stuff is accurate, then, including the daily Mail interview?
i was a Airborne infantryman who served in iraq for all of 04 and part of 05. i saw real shit that would send you screaming to your mommy. i mean real battles with people actually trying to kill me and those with me, countless IEDs, bodies hung from street lights and set on fire, people torn limb from limb (often by my maw deuce). here is where the miracle comes in, not a one of the guys i was with has ever caught the PTSD. so how in all hell do you expect me to believe in any way, that you saw such traumatic shit that it scarred ya for life from 8 thousand miles away watching a computer screen? grow some balls and stop telling stories. i seriously think that catching the PTSD is the remfs new scud missle story. it happened to someone somewhere, why not let it be me?
there is nothing you can claim or say here, in front of real combat veterans, that will convince us that you are anything more than a cowardly video game player trying to get famous
I actually never spoke to the daily mail. They just do what they always do and butcher the facts.
Ask questions, I’ll answer them.
Participation in an operation means I was sitting in the seat and did one of 3 things A) Overwatch for ground troops B) Buddy lase for other aircraft weapon drops C) shot myself. Actively flying missions is the only way to get “credit”
I think it was a bullshit system, and have voiced it repeatedly. Also find me on G+ and I’ll answer questions publicly, concerning my character, my job, etc as long as it doesn’t require me to reveal any secret information.
@28 You man are a real hero. I never claimed to be anything of the sort. I think you mistake guilt, operational stress, and moral injury as being comparable to what people on the ground experience.
PTSD is too wide range of a term.
I was never “trying” to get famous. The original Der Spiegel article people told me they talked to others (which they did) and they wanted my input. I never hid the fact that I was an operator (why should i), but I have always stood up for the community. We’re battle buddies. I watch your back while you punch faces.
I watched a lot of people die. I watched taliban/AQI kill innocent civilians. I questioned many of the decisions that were made on our end. I still did the job, and did it very well mind you, but running into people who have no clue what is going on inspired me to speak. YOU ALL have no idea what the situations were like. And while they were not physiologically induced like yours, they were extremely psychological.
Smitty, while I thank you for your service, I feel it is your attitude that does soldiers truly suffering from PTSD a huge disservice. I can almost guarantee you that at least one of the soldiers you served with “caught the PTSD” from their time over there. And, it may not require you to kill someone face to face, but if you’re killing someone even with the push of a button, you could still have a moral injury from it.
could you do C)for me again? i would really love for your publicity seaking ass to shoot yourself.
explain your PTSD claims when you never saw combat, never were put in any traumatic situation, and never even had to think about your life being in danger! justify in any way possible, how you can be viewed as anything other than a publicity hound that makes up stories. and please, try to tell your little goat kid story in a way that actually makes sense to anyone that has actually been over seas. your leftist antiwar hippies might eat that shit up, but everyone here sees it for the bull shit story it is
moral injury my ass. you do the job you volunteered for and trained for. some shit aint easy, but ya grow some balls and get over it.
As far as the PTSD thing for me goes, I was actively seeking help once I was out of the threat of losing my security clearance for doing so. It was, like, taboo to go talk to anyone about what you’ve seen or done.
Until I had a 150lbs log dropped on my head and my dreams of becoming a SERE Instructor vanished. My world crumbled. All the stress I thought I was handling started wreaking havoc on me. I could no longer fight, I could no longer save lives. I was done.
I loved serving my country. I just didn’t like celebrating death.
With all due respect, I really hope you’re not still in the Army, Smitty…..because it scares me to think a soldier who is having real issues could have an NCO like you.
see, Smitty, you don’t care. If you had any inclination of trying to understand, while I sit here and present you with fact, I would try harder.
Psychological stress is just as real and damaging, especially over a prolonged period of time, as short range, high intensity fighting.
think of it as erosion. What you experienced was an earthquake. Loud, damaging, terrain altering. What I experienced was more like the flow of water and wind through a canyon. It takes time, but the change ultimately appears.
@36 While I have serious issues with your comparisons, I want to say that I’m glad you came on the blog to talk with us.
Hopefully, you understand that getting dog-piled is the norm around here. And you’re likely to be dog-piled.
…and Jax, exactly what did Smitty say that scared you and caused you to insult him? He sounds like someone who knows his job and does it to me.
I’m here to stand in front of my accusers. If being dog-piled is part of it, so be it. 🙂
Well in that case, I think I should say that I got PTSD working in a Family Law office. Seeing all those poor families broken up has really done a number on me.
Oh, just great. Never was a pilot and never claimed to be one, yet claims actively flying missions. Sure, that makes it all perfectly clear.
Questions: So, you operated a camera, right? Is that true, or part of the “they made it up” bit? You can understand how people might misinterpret the words “drone operator” to mean piloted the drone instead of operating a small piece of equipment on a drone being flown by someone else, right? Would it not be more accurate to say something like, “I operated the drone’s camera?” And, yes, I can understand that if you were a photog that you might indeed be exposed to more gruesome pics than most.
>>I loved serving my country. I just didn’t like celebrating death.
/facepalm. You do realize when you say $hit like this to the press; it gives them the assumption that your fellow servicemembers do. Sorry I just don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who become useful tools to the press to bash the rest of the poor schmucks in the military who all have their own stories to tell..
@39 Not ‘accusers,’ exactly. I think a case of unreality is afoot. It seems more like a video game, than combat. Were you prepared mentally for the reality of your work? Did you attempt to talk with anyone about your stress while you were flying the drones?
@39.You missed my first question, which is introduced by your quote. “I’m trying to tell people the truth of warfare.” What, that people die and sometimes die gruesome deaths?
You say that one of your three duties was to take the shoot yourself. The NBC story says that “Though he didn’t fire missiles himself he took part in missions that he was told led to the deaths of an estimated 1,626 individuals.” What’s up with that? Are you saying that NBC got it wrong or did I miss something?
@41 Drone Operations are a two man job. A pilot and a Sensor Operator. Forgive me, but trying to explain what a Sensor Operator is, and that they are different than pilots, is difficult for people to understand.
The Daily Mail is full of shit. I never talked to them. It doesn’t matter what they have to say because it clearly isn’t the entirety of the subject.
I was considered to be “actively flying,” even though SOs (at first) never got flight pay and Pilots did. I didn’t create that logic, the USAF did.
>>>@39.You missed my first question, which is introduced by your quote. “I’m trying to tell people the truth of warfare.” What, that people die and sometimes die gruesome deaths?>>
Exactly! And I would truly like to know who the heck “celebrates death” in war.
I get so sick of the media giving people platforms so that they can further their own agenda. For every Brandon Bryant who goes out and does the “Oh my god look how many people I killed in war”– there are medavac pilots who fly young Afgan girls to get medical attention after they are blown up by their own people. Just ONCE, I would like to see a story about one of those people played out on MSNBCbias..
@43 it seems that way, and sometimes is presented that way, but when you see american soldiers die and you know they won’t come home… you know for a fact that it isn’t a video game.
@42 Strangely enough, there was a huge part in the celebration of death in the community. “killing our nation’s enemies” *HIGH FIVE* I never participated in the celebration, and I always felt ashamed that it was going on. We even had a guy who got a bladder infection because he would constantly refuse to use the restroom after a 10 hour OP in hopes of shooting. Something of that sort shouldn’t happen.
@44 That it isn’t pretty. As you know, Americans need a reminder about things every once and a while. I also believe that we have been wasting our time since the death of UBL.
I didn’t catch that NBC said I didn’t shoot anything. I have shot 7 times (6 successful) between 2006 and 2008. After that I had no more Hellfire shots, but I did set them up for on comming crews
@46 you know, I do too.
When I was in Iraq I tried to volunteer at the hospital there. It was fine until one day they got an insurgent that was shot saying that he hopes they heal him so he can kill them. And apparently that was a common thing. The doctors were so distressed and saddened about what this guy was saying. They deserve so much more than anyone who pulls a trigger.
PintoNag, I am so glad YOU, of all people, asked me that question!
Back on May 17th, I responded to the following blog posting by Doc Bailey, where he asked us to come up with ways to help curb the number of veteran suicides:
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=35669
I will also copy and paste a part of my reply because Smitty’s attitude 100% reminds me of the attitude that we saw from the 1SG and CO of this Field Artillery unit….here’s my reply:
“There was a particular Field Artillery unit that was stationed at Camp Taji while I was there. We kept seeing A LOT of their soldiers come into our clinic and A LOT of them had multiple complaints about leadership in the unit. So one of our psychiatrists decided to go and speak with their CO and 1SG, seeing as how we thought we had a rapport with them. Their 1SG’s name was 1SG Davis, which is my last name so he automatically took a liking to me and in the DFAC the 1SG and the CO would come sit with us. So no harm in approaching them with concerns about their soldiers’ wellbeing, right? Not so. The very next day one of our many friends from the unit came to us and said the command had called them all into formation and called them “fuckers” and berated them for going to CSC. They also basically let them know that CSC was now off limits to them and threatened them if they decided they wanted to go back and complain. WTF!?”
And, of course, the reason I’m happy you, PintoNag, were the one who asked me to clarify why I insulted Smitty is because YOU were the one who responded to my posting, saying it was excellent 🙂
I hope that clarifies it. I am sorry for being insulting, but this sort of attitude absolutely pisses me off, having seen it time and time again in the Army.
So, explain away here. Consider that I speak USAF and civilian pilot lingo. But, actually, I got the gist of it from what you said in #45.
Sounds like you consider yourself “flight crew?” Or something similar.
Most of us here have experienced stress, sometimes extreme stress over long periods of time. Still, we got ourselves through, over or around it. I simply cannot relate to your placing what YOU wanted (to maintain your clearance) ahead of the mission or mission effectiveness.