Flying
high

While the U.S. might want to attribute the four Canadian soldiers and numerous Afghan civilians killed to simple errors in judgement, a recently unearthed document issued by the U.S. Navy may have some better answers as to what’s really guiding their missiles. The 58-page document on “Performance Maintenance During Continuous Flight Operations,” reveals that it is commonplace for American pilots to be sent into combat missions with a cockpit-full of amphetamines.

Offered to help airmen fly longer without the nuisance of fatigue, pilots are routinely given a supply of 10 milligram Dexadrine pills before their flights. Once airborne, the pace and amounts of the doses taken are left to their own discretion.

Though mentioning some side effects, the document does not make any reference to the anxiety, nervousness or paranoia often associated with amphetamine use-factors one could easily imagine playing a role in the dropping of a 500-pound bomb onto the heads of Canadian infantrymen. :
-Scott Saxon