Substance Abuse Within the Military

This is a contributed article by Helen Young:

 Military troops and veterans are generally regarded to be some of the most disciplined and 'strong' members of our society. So it may come as a surprise to learn that they are just as susceptible, if not more, to substance abuse and addiction as other civilians. Research indicates that tobacco, alcohol and prescription drug abuse are on the rise within the US military forces and factors such as the stressful nature of their job, military culture and trouble integrating back into society following a period of deployment (along with the possibility of PTSD) are thought to be some of the reasons behind these surprising statistics. 

We are all guilty of making judgmental assumptions when it comes to those who are 'most likely' engage in substance abuse, but there are actually several unlikely sections of society that are suffering. Military troops and veterans fall into this category. Here are some of the reasons behind this invisible abuse.

Alcohol culture

People in the military may abuse alcohol for the same reasons that civilians do – because they want to unwind, relax and forget about their problems. It is estimated that 47% - almost half – of servicemen and women binge drink on a monthly basis. This figure is similar to that of college students - perhaps a less surprising section of society to engage in alcohol abuse. Along with drinking as a stress reliever, there is also a certain culture within the military in which servicemen may ritualistically get together over a few drinks to socialize and bond. Indeed, research states that historically alcohol was used as a form of 'man management' to encourage and allow men to let loose and relive stress. But when this stops being an occasional, enjoyable pastime and starts to become a dependency it can have real consequences. Being drunk or hungover can majority impact cognitive function, reducing readiness and making you less equipped to fulfill your duties properly. In the military this can have life endangering consequences for both you and your colleagues.

Tobacco

Like alcohol, tobacco is legal but in vast quantities can be detrimental to the health. It might not present the same sort of immediate performance issues as drinking or drug abuse but over time it can have a serious impact on overall health. Similarly to alcohol, tobacco use tends to begin after joining the military with one study indicating that 30% of smokers within the military began after joining. Again, this could be seen as a coping mechanism or way of fitting in with peers.

Drug dependency

The military issues a strict zero tolerance policy in regards to illicit drugs so rates of this sort of substance abuse are generally quite low. However, it still remains one of the top reasons for military discharge in the United States. Prescription drug abuse, however, is another matter. One study placed the rates of prescription drug use within the military at 11.7% which is two and a half times higher than prescription drug use in civilians. When servicemen are required to monitor and regulate their own intake of anti-depressant medication, opiate painkillers and other prescription drugs it can lead to unintentional misuse and later, addiction. This can have a very detrimental effect on both their personal and professional lives, especially when faced with the possibility of running out of their medication and being forced to go cold turkey.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Integration Issues

During or after a stint in the military, especially after being involved in combat or working within a warzone, many servicemen experience after effects from the traumatic things they have witnessed or been involved in. Many servicemen returning from combat are though to suffer from substance abuse and PTSD with studies revealing a clear link between the two. Once home, integrating back into normal life following a deployment can also be a tough adjustment. Returning servicemen may feel isolated, bored or unable to simply slot back in to their previous life. In this situation they may turn to substance abuse in an attempt to dull the pain and mask their emotions. They miss the support and camaraderie of their fellow troops and feel disconnected from those around them, even if they have a tight knit and loving family and friendship circle. This is why therapy and treatment are so essential to those suffering from mental illness or trauma following (or during) their time in the military.

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My Overseas cap is off to Veterans

Veteran’s day has come and gone and I attended the excellent observation here in Baytown once again. Veteran’s day is a happy occasion, unlike Memorial Day; at least not to me. Today, I won’t go into the history of the holiday or any of that well-beaten path.

As a history buff of the Vietnam War and having served 2 tours in Southeast Asia during the long war, I feel as qualified as the next to talk about what a Veteran is. Of course, when it comes to the Vietnam War, there are a couple of distinctions. The first is the military that served “in country” which comprised 4 countries in SEA.

Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand were all at war against the communists and all 4 countries lost military personnel and many, many civilians. Every Veteran is issued on discharge a form called a DD-214 and if they can’t produce one, I have my doubts about their military service. Sorry, but there are charlatans among us.

The second group is known as Vietnam Era veterans. This means they served during the conflict, but never made it to Indochina. If they served honorably, I see no distinction in their status from my own.

I served during a time of the Draft and I’ll be honest and say that motivation by some was nil. Others were downright criminals, who ran off into the service to avoid the law or jail time. What I did see in SEA was everyone doing their job regardless if they wanted to be there or not and this is one reason, I often shake my head over claims that Vietnam Vets were abused when they returned.

I never expected one benefit for my time served there, which was right at 651 days of sweating in the jungle environment with bugs crawling on me some nights. I did my job and I did what I signed up for; nothing more, nothing less. I didn’t have a pity party when I never received a single care package from well-wishers, or felt lonely because the USO with Bob Hope skipped by our Base. I passed 2 Christmas’ without a package from home, but never doubted that they loved me. It was a different time.

I saw it as the adventure of a lifetime; an experience I couldn’t get in Texas and still do. I made lifetime friends from Valdosta to Seattle and still communicate with them. My friends retired from the military, but tell me their time at Takhli RTAFB was the highlight of their long careers.

Was it like that when I landed there? Heck no! I had a feeling of deep depression, especially when the heat and humidity exceeded what I was used to here in the Houston area. The war was going full blast and all those days later when I left, we were still “bombing them back to the Stone Age”.

I do not see myself as a hero or a victim and frankly, any Vietnam Veteran who is still standing around milking sympathy for the “abuse they wrongfully suffered” when they came home is immediately suspect to me. I want to see their DD-214 form. Get over it!  Move on!  Geeze. Are they going to spend the rest of their lives walking around playing poor pitiful Pearl?

I’ve said it before; I’ve never met a real Vietnam Veteran who wants sympathy and mine Gott, how many times do we need to be welcomed home? A simple “Thank you for your service” suffices and is always welcomed. The reoccurring claim of being called a baby killer or being spit upon makes me angry. Are we seriously being led to believe that someone returning from service in a war zone is going to take that flat-footed?  I don’t think so.

 Did it happen? Possibly, but only in a few cases and the chances of you bumping into one of these unfortunate disabled airmen, sailors, soldiers or Marines is remote. I say disabled, because they simply must have been physically unable to knock someone’s teeth down their throat to take a slight that large.

As a Vietnam Vet, I refuse to appear at any military service looking like Forrest Gump’s Lt. Dan in tattered pieces of uniform. To me it makes Vietnam Vets look like dysfunctional derelicts and that war ended 45 years ago! 

My hat is off to the many proactive Veterans like Jerry Johnson, Ren Fitts, Conrad Garcia, and the local VFW who represent Veterans for what they truly are - a person who was willing to risk their lives and future so we can remain the great free country our fore-fathers envisioned.

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Come and Take It!

This is Baytown Bert in Baytown, Texas and this is Podcast 013

This week’s column is going to brand me as just another agent orange crazed Vietnam Veteran, or a patriot – you decide.  One way or the other, I’m going to speak my mind.

The truth is I have had just about all I can take of our government, talk show know-it-all’s, and liberal college professors explaining away or placating every radical or “victimized” group for the sake of political correctness and some mythical nice existence and cohabitation.  What am I talking about?  Look up the list of groups the CIA keeps of which they deem worthy of watching (keeping an eye on us), if you don’t believe me.

I’ll oblige you, the discriminate reader and believe me, if you are reading this, you are in the minority, as no one reads anymore:  “environmentalists; business groups; labor unions; churches; ethnic groups; political action committees or PACs; health groups; education groups; civic groups; youth groups; transportation groups; agricultural groups; veterans groups; women's groups; reform lobbies.”

In their own words about these groups, “This entry includes a listing of a country's political, social, labor, or religious organizations that are involved in politics, or that exert political pressure, but whose leaders do not stand for legislative election. International movements or organizations are generally not listed.”  In other words, we are the enemy, or might be and need to be watched closely.

Our government is watching us because we might be the enemy.  If it wasn’t true, it would be comical.

Our government and our news stations have instilled in our country a fear of everything when they are supposed to do just the opposite.  Thanks to them, we are afraid of dang near everything.  Terrorism, crime, drug cartels, Mexican gangs, contagions, child predators, traveling abroad, not having enough money in retirement, costly health insurance, hurricanes, flooding, drunk drivers, bullies, bedbugs, and thanks to shrewd marketing -  constipation.

I’m sick of it.  I say bring it on.  Let’s take ISIS or ISIL or whatever the current group of cowardly Islamic terrorists want to call themselves for example.  If they come here and are caught, let’s execute them.  Let’s don’t give the privilege of a high-priced New York lawyer and use tax payer money to let them languish themselves for five years.  Let’s stand them against the wall with their weapons and explosives and shoot them.

I am sure the government would have to hold a lottery due to the high number of Veterans and patriots willing to do the act.  What?  You think this is barbaric?  Don’t you know our history?  That Jihadist Major Nidal Malik Hasan was caught in the act of murdering his fellow soldiers yelling “Allahu Akbar” and as a US Army officer sworn in under the Uniform code of military justice should have been executed for being a traitor. 

Because he is a traitor in every sense of the definition.

When you swear the oath into US military service, you wave your Constitutional rights and are under the UCMJ.  Our country has become so screwed up that we can’t even honor military law without fear it might offend someone.

Ask ANY Veteran and they will tell you the same thing.  In military jargon, which I cannot repeat, suffice it to say it is a supreme insult to the honorably serving military.  It is as if the enemy of our country gets the protection of our government and don’t even get me started on Benghazi.  Having first Hillary Clinton, then John Kerry represent our country internationally as Secretary of State makes me absolutely nauseous and I am a Vietnam veteran with two tours.  As an American, I despise them both.

If our troops can’t count on our government to back them up – why are they serving?  I will tell you why if you don’t know.  They serve because they believe in America.  They believe we are still the greatest country on earth.  They believe somehow by serving, they can make a difference.  They can’t.  Our military in the hands of the current administration are disposable pawns and this has been proven by the President’s lack of a viable solution to withdrawal – something he promised if elected.

I am asking our government to stop trying to save the world and save America.  Stop killing our kids.  Quite meddling in everyone else’s business and begin to rebuild this country that was once great.  The Middle East will never become friends and any drunken fool can see this, so why keep killing our boys and girls over something we cannot and never will fix?

We have a porous border that leaks like a 5 gallon can after being shot with double-ought buckshot and we are chasing people all over Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria like it will make a difference?  Hogwash.  Secure our borders first, and then worry about what other countries are doing.

We are expending billions of dollars overseas and truckloads of unidentifiable people are crossing our borders everyday.  Who’s the fools now and why, with all the collective smart folks in Washington, can’t they cipher this?

Any politician who points this out is automatically branded a racist.  Hooey.  Get over it.  Crack down hard on people who flaunt gaining citizenship and use our system against us and it will suddenly not be a joke amongst them.  “Don’t go there.  They ain’t playin’ games no more!”

If Jihadists come into this country, ghost them quietly and deliberately and bury the evidence on it permanently.  No 70 virgins for them and good riddance.  Call me an extremist if you will, but I call myself a patriot.  Come and take it.

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Gun Control? Will Criminals be disarmed? No, you will.

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I've stayed out of this from the beginning and want to make it clear that I haven't bought a single firearm or cartridge in the last year. I do however own a number of long and short firearms, along with numerous Asian weapons which I’ve studied and am skilled in their use and it is no one’s business what I've bought outside of a gun store purchase. New purchases are documented and registered if you will, but if I buy a shotgun from Joe Blow, I do not want to register it, period.

I hope, hope, hope the day never arrives when I have to defend my family against an abusive US government, but that is why our forefathers wrote in the 2nd amendment and if anyone thinks it couldn't happen, just look at the long history of countries falling due to an abusive government.

I have a clean record and a CHL, plus I am a Vietnam veteran with an honorable discharge. On top of that, I am a black belt with many years of private study and practice. I do not want to be a victim - ever and I've taken steps to secure my home and family to that possibility. No one has to fear my presence unless they plan to cause harm to me or my own.

I do not have a Class 3 license, don't plan on getting one, and I do not sit around caressing my firearms or dream of "blowing someone away". I think in many ways, I represent the average American citizen pro-gun person.

Criminals do not walk into Academy and fill out the forms to get weapons. They steal or buy them on the black market. Take away the right to purchase firearms will only result in strengthening the black market and criminals will have a secure supply, while making people like me, less secure.

In that Utopian world free of guns, someone will still have guns beside the police - so there is no Utopia. Utopia is an unachievable myth. So, in the meantime, I am one hundred per cent behind the law-abiding citizen making legal purchases of firearms, with large capacity magazines, specialty self-defense loads of ammo, and rifle stock and barrel configurations resembling military “assault rifles”, which of course, they are not.

I am also against the current administration attempting to push a long-established agenda through, using the tragedy at Sandy Hooks as a smoke screen.

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10 Years later - 9-11-2001

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Doing my part to remember all the victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks by godless heathen terrorists, who with a deviant form of religion justify killing almost 2000 innocent men, women, and children.
When they stand before the one true and living god, they will hear these chilling words, quoted from the King James Bible, Matthew 7:23: "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

 My salute goes out to all our fallen military and those who survive, and our police departments, and firefighters.  Last I salute all those loved ones who have suffered loss.  God bless America.

One Mans Passion Brings Healing To Many

I paid a visit to one of Baytown's prized jewels, namely Ken "the Dauber" Pridgeon, a local artist on a mission to paint a large canvas of every military sacrificed G.I. from Texas in the Iraqi Freedom campaign.  Whew!  Ken is on Social Security and bears the cost of his passion, but the monetary side of it is minor in comparison to the burden of his soul as he embraces the sacrifice every airman, soldier, sailor, or Marine he paints.

Ken is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and served in North Africa, but is quick to say that he was no hero.

His studio is lined with large paintings of men in uniform, all of whom paid the ultimate price for our freedom.  In his early works, he painted them in high school sports uniforms, or enjoying their various interests, but as the scope of his project grew, he began to focus exclusively on their military experience.  He is painting himself into a corner.  The amazing likenesses of our boys have filled the studio to the bursting point.

Ken poured tears on the floor as he told me their individual stories and I too, having lost me son to the effects of this war, was moved with grief for their sacrifice.

My own office is graced with one of Ken’s early paintings in this direction, one of my son Nick, after surviving an IED attack in Iraq.  Ken accurately portrayed my son with facial bandages and a burning Army vehicle and I am blessed to have it.
 
Ken has now painted 33 portraits at his expense.  He sends the parents or loved ones a high quality print free of charge and hopes to paint all 500+ lost military personnel from the state of Texas to honor them.  The only problem he foresees is where to exhibit the many canvases when the project is complete.

We both feel this is history in the making, but neither of us have a solution or the backing to make a permanent exhibition a reality.  Ken also worries the enormity of the project will tax his physical timeline.  I know one thing.  He paints from early in the day to late in the night and his passion to the project is stronger than ever.

If you have a solution to help “the Dauber”, please contact him at: 832-514-1452
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A Date Which SHOULD Live in Infamy

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After polling a number of my younger coworkers yesterday about the American significance of December 7th and finding they had no reference point, I brought out breakfast, cooked it, and presented it to them, to call to remembrance a "date which will live in infamy".

The day we forget our own history, is the day we are doomed to repeat it.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt: Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

"The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese government also launched as attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Wake Island.

And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us".
Source: Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.

Local Artist helps Wheelers for the Wounded Project

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Posted: Sunday, November 21, 2010 12:05 am   The Baytown Sun - Jane Howard Lee
*Photo Nicki Evans

What Baytown resident Jim McDonnel can do with pencils is pretty amazing.

What the pencils have done for him is perhaps more amazing still.

The walls of the home that McDonnel shares with wife Cindy are covered with art and much of it is his work.

A self-trained artist, he works in pen and ink and in acrylics, but his favorite medium is pencil.

Born in Alice, Texas, McDonnel spent his earliest years in south Texas, but moved to Barbers Hill when he was in high school. He graduated from Barbers Hill High School in 1974.

Life led him to work in a chemical plant. He was employed by Dow Chemical in Freeport for 23 years while he and Cindy raised a daughter. When he retired, they moved to Baytown, but retirement didn’t suit him for long. He soon went back to work full time in a Baytown chemical plant and works there still.

"I guess I started really drawing in junior high," McDonnel said. "I wasn’t paying much attention in class. Instead I was always drawing soldiers and such."

It was the Vietnam era, after all.

Those schoolboy drawings evolved over the years. McDonnel discovered that he really loved creating art. He tried painting, found that he really likes working with acrylics but always returned to what got him started … drawing with a pencil.

Of course the pencils he uses today aren’t the No. 2 Ticonderoga he probably used in junior high and he’s not doodling on the edges of notebook paper. But the works he’s created with art pencils and paper are a natural progression from those early works.

About two years ago, McDonnel was diagnosed with cancer, an advanced case that required chemotherapy, followed by surgery.

He is doing well now, but went through a very rough time.

"It’s been tough, but my art gave me something to focus on besides being sick," he said. "When I was too sick to do much of anything else, I could still pick up a pencil."

With that ordeal behind him, he is back at work and enjoying time spent with his three granddaughters. He especially enjoys working on art projects with them and has discovered that they seem to share not only his enthusiasm for art but also some of his artistic talent.

He recently taught a couple of art classes (as a visiting artist) at his granddaughters’ school and enjoyed that immensely, he said.

He shuffled through stacks of his drawings and pointed out favorites on the walls of his home, expressing regret that he doesn’t have too many examples of the work he did in his younger days.

"I gave so much of my early artwork away and I wish I at least had copies of some of them," he said.

Nowadays, he does make and keep copies or prints, whether it is a drawing he does on commission, something he creates for a nonprofit group to auction (he does a lot of that) or drawings he does for himself or family members.

He’s been drawing a lot of beloved pets for people, often people he connects with on Internet forums that he frequents.

"I put a couple examples of my work on there and people will get in touch," he said. "A lot of them want pictures of their pets … you know for a lot of people, their pets are like their kids. They especially want a special portrait of their pets after those pets have died. They send me a photo and I’ll work from that."

McDonnel likes that his art can make those people happy, but he especially likes it when his art can help out a good cause.

One of his drawings recently brought in about $4,000 at an auction for the nonprofit organization Wheelers for the Wounded, whose primary mission is providing a weekend of off-roading, camping and sometimes fishing to the people who were wounded or injured while serving in the U.S. military.

A fan of off-road driving himself, McDonnel was a founding member of Wheelers 4 Wishes, a local four-wheeling group that participates in the annual U.S. Marine Corps Toys For Tots Toy Run/Ride that features motorcycle enthusiasts and four-wheeler fans and takes place at the Pasadena Fairgrounds each year. This year marks the 17th annual toy run and takes place on Dec. 11. McDonnel created the art that will grace the event’s T-shirt this year, as he has done for four of the last five years.

"It’s neat to see all those bikers wearing my art," he said.
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The Silent Side of Christmas

This Christmas Eve, many thousands of workers will stay up all night manning police, hospitals, chemical plants, security, fire stations and EMS across the Texas Gulf Coast. They are supporting the American way of life. Unfortunately, this is every holiday season for them. My hat is off.

While we enjoy opening presents, or a football game and drinks with our friends and family, a single Mom with tired feet is working a checkout stand, as Wal-Mart accommodates last minute shoppers, wishing for once she could be home with her kids. A city utility employee is shutting off a leaking water or sewer line on a wet dark road. His family wishes this didn't happen every Christmas, but it does. I am grateful.

Somewhere a tow truck driver is changing a flat tire in the bitter cold and a taxi is carrying a passenger to a destination so they can be with their family. The tow-truck driver doesn't make it home before they are called to another emergency and the taxi rolls on to find another passenger. Let me shake your hand.

In this city of thousands, there will sit many who are alone and feel forgotten. They heat up their TV dinner and wish it were all over. Christmas to them is a reminder of lost loved ones. Let me say a prayer of comfort for you.

At Minot AFB in barren North Dakota a 19-year old Airman spends her first Christmas away from home as she works the lone-shift position in the weather station - short straw on the rank scale. In South Korea, the tallest man in the unit, a 6'-5" "Dirty Bay" hometown soldier hunkers down against the cold as he pulls night guard duty beside his launcher. In Afghanistan more American freedom-loving men and women look out across the frigid and desolate wasteland and silently offer up a prayer for peace on earth. They do not ask for pity.

Let's remember all our troops both home and abroad. I salute you.

All these people sacrifice time away from their families to earn a living or keep us safe while we eat delicious meals, open presents, mix with our families and finally drift off to sleep.

Security guards Carroll Messer and Eddie Thurmond stand vigilance at one of the many Chemical Plants on the Texas Gulf Coast, like they do every holiday season.

The Rosetta Stone for BB's Obama Presidency Predictions

1. People with jobs want to keep the money they make. The Democratic platform is wealth redistribution and this appeals to those who are on welfare.

2. The tongue-in-cheek reference to people committing suicide is in reference to one woman who voted for Obama because under his administration she "wouldn't have to pay rent or her grocery bill" once he is elected. This woman actually voted and shows how crazy some of his followers have became.

3. The Democrats always cut military budgets to balance the federal deficit. That and raise taxes. Under Bill Clinton, we lost our military superpower status.

4. It beats anything I can figure out why rich Hollywood and New York millionaires scream in delight to elect someone who is going to take from their wallet and give it to whom they please. This is the Democratic Party's stance.

5. The Black Panther “civilian Security Force” stood guard over a polling place in the city of brotherly love this election and my reference is they will be severely irked when they find out that Barack Obama is just another self-serving Washington politician and not the end all to black problems in this country. Think about it – how much oil company stock do you think the man owns? Plenty.

6. Self-explanatory

7. My reference to Barack selling stuff could have just as easily been he becomes the number one Tele-Evangelist in the country, as he is one smooth salesman, whether it is toothbrushes or Chevy's.

8. Self-explanatory

9. Self-explanatory, but promises are promises and when you promise "change" almost anything will work, right?

10. "And for Blacks in their late teens to early 20s, the biggest danger is homicide-often at the hands of another African-American". Ebony, March, 1998 by Kelly Starling

The bottom line is this. I did not vote for the man any more than I voted for Bill Clinton, but I WILL support him as my President. I just hope and pray that he does the right thing.

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans

Short Sharp Science (NewScientist blog) Oct. 22, 2008

The latest request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human".

One thing that really bugs defence chiefs is having their troops diverted from other duties to control robots. So having a pack of them controlled by one person makes logistical sense. But I'm concerned about where this technology will end up.

Given that iRobot last year struck a deal with Taser International to mount stun weapons on its military robots, how long before we see packs of droids hunting down pesky demonstrators with paralysing weapons? Or could the packs even be lethally armed? I asked two experts on automated weapons what they thought. Both were concerned that packs of robots would be entrusted with tasks - and weapons - they were not up to handling without making wrong decisions.

Steve Wright of Leeds Metropolitan University is an expert on police and military technologies, and last year correctly predicted this pack-hunting mode of operation would happen. "The giveaway here is the phrase 'a non-cooperative human subject'," he told me:

"What we have here are the beginnings of something designed to enable robots to hunt down humans like a pack of dogs. Once the software is perfected we can reasonably anticipate that they will become autonomous and become armed.
We can also expect such systems to be equipped with human detection and tracking devices including sensors which detect human breath and the radio waves associated with a human heart beat. These are technologies already developed."

Another commentator often in the news for his views on military robot autonomy is Noel Sharkey, an AI and robotics engineer at the University of Sheffield. He says he can understand why the military wants such technology, but also worries it will be used irresponsibly.

"This is a clear step towards one of the main goals of the US Army's Future Combat Systems project, which aims to make a single soldier the nexus for a large scale robot attack. Independently, ground and aerial robots have been tested together and once the bits are joined, there will be a robot force under command of a single soldier with potentially dire consequences for innocents around the corner."

What do you make of this? Are we letting our militaries run technologically amok with our tax dollars? Or can robot soldiers be programmed to be even more ethical than human ones, as some researchers claim?

Paul Marks, technology correspondent