Oral history interview with Heather Lea Linebaugh, 2022
Abstract
Heather Linebaugh reflects on her service in the United States Air Force from 2009 to 2012, during which time she worked in intelligence as an imagery and geospatial analyst on the drone program. She shares stories of her upbringing in central Pennsylvania, and remembers her thinking and motivations around the time of her enlistment in the Air Force, which coincided with Barack Obama's 2008 electio n. Linebaugh describes her training in the program, the professional and interpersonal dynamics between lower-level enlisted airmen and officers in the program's hierarchy, and the close social bonds formed with colleagues in her unit. She focuses on the disconnect between public and political discourses around the accuracy and efficacy of the drone program, the identity and activities of its military participants, and its actual realities, including the psychological and moral trauma suffered by many of those who worked in the program. Linebaugh recounts her decision to write a 2013 op-ed in The Guardian about her experience in the program, and remembers the public hostility the article provoked. Also discussed are Linebaugh's participation in the 2016 documentary National Bird; improvements in the ability of participants in, and veterans of, highly classified programs to access high quality mental health care; and program veterans' response to the Obama administration's 2016 executive order (EO 13732) and summary report on civilian casualties of U.S. operations involving the use of force
Presidents--United States; Drone aircraft--Moral and ethical aspects--United States; Drone warfare--United States; Drone aircraft--Government policy--United States; Uninhabited combat aerial vehicles (International law); Targeted killing--Government policy--United States; Women and the military--United States; Post-traumatic stress disorder--United States; Veterans--Services for--United States; Veterans--Medical care--United States; Drone aircraft pilots; Civilian war casualties; Linebaugh, Heather; Obama, Barack; United States. Air Force
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
39 pages
Note (Biographical)
Heather Linebaugh is a United States Air Force veteran. She served in the Air Force from 2009 to 2012, and worked in intelligence as an imagery and geospatial analyst on the drone program. In December 2013, Linebaugh wrote an op-ed in The Guardian abo ut her experience in the program
Note
Interviewed by Evan D. McCormick on July 20, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Heather Lea Linebaugh, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023