Time for a break? Perceptions and impacts of reconstitution among United States Air Force remotely piloted aircraft personnel.
Saved in:
| Title: | Time for a break? Perceptions and impacts of reconstitution among United States Air Force remotely piloted aircraft personnel. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Mulhearn, Tyler J. (AUTHOR), Bryant-Lees, Kinsey B. (AUTHOR), Galloway, Kristin L. (AUTHOR), Scheuneman, Neal E. (AUTHOR), Manley, Floyd M. (AUTHOR), McDaniel, Tyler C. (AUTHOR), Martinez, Rachael N. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Military Psychology. 2026, Vol. 38 Issue 1, p13-24. 12p. |
| Subjects: | Job stress, Drone aircraft, Risk assessment, Mental health, Research funding, Qualitative research, Psychological burnout, Psychological distress, Fisher exact test, Questionnaires, United States. Air Force, Psychology of military personnel, Descriptive statistics, Thematic analysis, Confidence intervals, Resource-limited settings, Psychological tests, Air pilots, Employees' workload, Industrial hygiene, Health care rationing |
| Geographic Terms: | United States |
| Abstract: | United States Air Force remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) aircrew and support personnel perform critical missions in support of military operations around the world. The high value placed on the work of these individuals has resulted in increased workload and heightened risk of adverse psychological health outcomes. The impact of this can be detrimental to the health of the individual as well as the success of the RPA mission. To address these concerns, a combat-to-reconstitution policy was developed to provide additional downtime and recovery to RPA personnel, and recently piloted in some units within the RPA community. A total of 397 RPA personnel, of which 26% (n = 103) indicated their schedule was either internal or external reconstitution, completed an anonymous occupational health assessment sometime between November 2021 and July 2022. Responses included a mixture of both positive and negative experiences during the implementation of reconstitution, along with recommendations for improvements. Certain reconstitution-related sources of stress (e.g. work overload, lack of resources), were found to increase risk of burnout or psychological distress. Overall, this preliminary study provides a foundational landscape for the scientific and operational understanding of reconstitution as an operational intervention to improve recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Military Psychology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | United States Air Force remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) aircrew and support personnel perform critical missions in support of military operations around the world. The high value placed on the work of these individuals has resulted in increased workload and heightened risk of adverse psychological health outcomes. The impact of this can be detrimental to the health of the individual as well as the success of the RPA mission. To address these concerns, a combat-to-reconstitution policy was developed to provide additional downtime and recovery to RPA personnel, and recently piloted in some units within the RPA community. A total of 397 RPA personnel, of which 26% (n = 103) indicated their schedule was either internal or external reconstitution, completed an anonymous occupational health assessment sometime between November 2021 and July 2022. Responses included a mixture of both positive and negative experiences during the implementation of reconstitution, along with recommendations for improvements. Certain reconstitution-related sources of stress (e.g. work overload, lack of resources), were found to increase risk of burnout or psychological distress. Overall, this preliminary study provides a foundational landscape for the scientific and operational understanding of reconstitution as an operational intervention to improve recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 08995605 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/08995605.2024.2434361 |
