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. D

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