Army chaplain quits over drone strike deaths in Afghanistan and America's 'lack of accountability'
Army Chaplain Christopher John Antal joined the military in 2008
He was inspired by president Obama's message of hope and change
However, when he saw drone strikes killing civilians he spoke out
The drone strikes continued and in 2013 he was relieved from active duty
Last month he left the Army because of the U.S.'s 'lack of
accountability'
A military chaplain has resigned after witnessing the carnage created by U.S. drone strikes on civilians in the Middle East.
Army Chaplain Christopher John Antal told ABC News he can't remember a time he performed a ceremony while receiving a fallen troop that he didn't hear drones humming overhead.
Last month, the chaplain left his position as an officer in the Army due to the drone strikes.
Scroll down for video
Army Chaplain Christopher John Antal (pictured) resigned last month after witnessing eight years of carnage created by U.S. drone strikes
Antal (center) joined the Army in 2008, less than a month after president Obama's election. He said the new president made him want to be an agent of change
He penned a letter to president Obama saying: 'The executive branch continues to claim the right to kill anyone, anywhere on Earth, at any time, for secret reasons, based on secret evidence, in a secret process, undertaken by unidentified officials.
'I refuse to support this policy of unaccountable killing.'
Antal is not the only armed forces member to take a stance against.
Four Air Force members wrote a letter in November of 2015 warning the president that the strikes 'served as a recruitment tool similar to Guantanamo Bay', ABC News reported.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London found 2,379 casualties from U.S. drone strikes were killed in Pakistan. New America Foundation says it's less - but both agree innocent victims were killed
While stationed in Afghanistan, Antal was one of few servicemen allowed to visit 'flight lines', where aircraft are parked and serviced.
Often he was greeting a body of a fallen serviceman or woman when he entered these areas.
As he took part in dignified transfer ceremonies, he would see drones flying off with Hellfire missiles.
'When I would watch them and think about where they had been and where they were going, it would break my soul,' he told ABC.
Antal joined the Army less than a month after Obama was elected in 2008. He said he joined the armed forces to be an agent of change.
But during his time in the military serving in Afghanistan he witnessed drones humming through the air carrying Hellfire missiles
In 2013 Antal was released from active duty and re-stationed at an Army post on the border of Texas and New Mexico
As time went on Antal became more aware of the damages drone strikes were doing.
One airstrike in 2012 called Operation Haymaker, intended to target al-Qaeda operatives, killed many civilians and nearly '90 per cent' of the people killed were not 'intended targets', whistle-blowing site The Intercept reported.
According to the non-profit Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London there were 2,379 casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan from 2004 to 2014.
Of the 704 people killed who have been identified by the bureau, only 295 were reported to be militants.
Washington D.C. think tank New America the number of civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan is much lower than the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported.
New America reported 403 strikes since 2004, with 2,284 to 3,625 people were killed and that seven to 14 per cent of those deaths were civilians, five to 12 per cent were unknown and the rest were militants.
In a Veterans' Day sermon in Afghanistan that year, Antal spoke out against the drone strikes.
'We made war entertainment,' he said. 'Enjoying box seats on the carnival of death.'
Antal was spoken to harshly about the sermon and told to take it offline, where he had posted it to share with other chaplains.
He was told his 'message did not support the mission'.
In 2013, Antal was released from active duty and re-stationed at an Army post on the border of Texas and New Mexico.
In February, a highly critical report of the U.S.'s drone policy was released. It was around this time Obama's administration announced a $1 trillion revitalization of the U.S. nuclear program.
The Obama administration has agreed to publish a redacted 'drone playbook' to make public the tactics used with military drones
Antal knew it was time to leave the Army for good.
It could take the Army several months to process Antal's resignation. A change in policy made it so chaplains were asked not to speak critically of the military.
He fears past comments could land him in military prison, which is another reason why he has resigned.
The Obama administration has agreed to publish a redacted 'drone playbook' to make public the tactics used with military drones.
Antal is hopeful Obama will make good on this promise.
'There’s so much we don’t know about our president’s use of armed drones, and I’m hopeful that the American people can wake up to what is really happening with them,' he said.
He added that drones should be a bigger point of contention in the 2016 race for the White House.