The U.S. Air Force remote warrior community is largely composed of distributed common ground system intelligence operators, cyber operators, and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) operators. The demand for these remotely conducted capabilities has increased exponentially over the past decade, and remote warrior skills are considered essential to maintaining situational awareness and operational effectiveness in the field of conflict. Sustaining an intellectually strong and psychologically resilient workforce is crucial to ensuring the continued effectiveness of this operationally critical mission area. A total of 3513 remote warriors (60.46% intel and cyber from the 25th Air Force, 32.71% RPA, and 6.83% intel and cyber from the 24th Air Force) participated in the current study, a reassessment including distributed common ground system, cyber, and RPA operator samples from units that had also been surveyed in the earlier study. All three datasets include active duty, Reserve, and Air National Guard participants. An anonymous survey was completed that assessed demographics, occupational demands, psychological distress, burnout, and suicide ideation. Outcomes of the current reassessment reveal increased suicide ideation rates of 6-11%, with 2-4.5% reporting suicidal thoughts more often than “rarely.” Results of multinomial logistic regression indicate risk factors similar to those identified in the initial assessment: being unmarried, experiencing relational crises, engaging in chronic, long work hours, being an Air National Guard member, and endorsing elevated rates in certain facets of burnout. These risk factors were associated with increased risk for suicide ideation even when psychological distress was included as a covariate. Validation of the previous risk factors, along with other findings discussed in this report, offers insights into how mental health providers may better screen for suicide risk within the remote warrior populations.
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