Some thoughts on predator drones and their pilots.

[trof]

I was a sorta, kinda 'fighter pilot' for about 7 years.
OK, I was in the air national guard flying obsolete (but FUN!) F-84s (google it) in the 60s and never saw combat.
Just one of your garden variety 'citizen soldiers'.

But I know a lot of guys who were in the real deal.
Guys that were in WW II, Korea, and of course Viet Nam.
My generation's 'war'.

Bear with me for a bit.
Being a combat pilot; bomber, fighter, whatever, is a LOT different from being a grunt in the mud. You're not face-to-face with the enemy.
There are all manner of things that can kill you.
If you're good (or just even lucky) you go home every day to a warm bed, hot food, and cold beer.
Your degree of 'investment' (your ass on the line) in the operation is much lower than for ground troops.

The WW II guys were, in most missions, what I'd call 'fully invested'.
In the case of many sorties, there was an even chance they wouldn't make it back. Flack, enemy fighters, mechanical malfunctions, etc.

In Korea your odds were better.
It was just a much more limited 'police action' (interesting euphemism) than WW II.
In Viet Nam, better still.
We had air superiority from the git-go.
The only risks were anti-aircraft fire (SAMs) or a ground attack on your air base.

My first point is that in each conflict your butt was on the line at some point.
My second point would be how you felt about what you were doing.
Some pilots gave no thought to the havoc they were wreaking on the ground.
Hell, this was all out war (WW II).
Win at all cost and anything goes.
Some did, and were troubled about it.

And now we have the drone pilots.
As far as I can see, they have no 'investment'.
By that I mean their asses aren't on the line.

They kiss their wives goodbye, leave their suburban homes, drive to work, fly a mission (or missions), and get back in time to see their kid's soccer game.
Cool.
:sarcasm:

But apparently this 'new Air Force' mission is also taking a toll.

"Flying drones from halfway across the world used to be considered a cushy, if somewhat sterile, military job. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone on for so long — and become so dependent on the satellite-piloted planes — that Air Force commanders have had to call in chaplains, psychologists and psychiatrists "to help ease the mental strain on these remote-control warriors," the Associated Press reports.

Just a few years ago, pilots of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) crowed that "most of the time, I get to fight the war, and go home and see the wife and kids at night." Since then, the demands for remotely-flown spy planes have grown exponentially. Pilots’ hours grew longer and longer. And they started to compare themselves to "prisoners with a life sentences."

That’s taking things to a whiny extreme. The chair-bound flyboys still have it pretty good, compared to the grunts of the Army or the Marines: No 15-month tours, no crappy rations, no chance of them or their friends getting blown up. But the constant back-and-forth between war and peace isn’t without its unique strains. "It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid’s soccer game," sighs Lt. Col. Michael Lenahan.

In a fighter jet, "when you come in at 500-600 miles per hour, drop a
500-pound bomb and then fly away, you don’t see what happens," said
Colonel Albert K. Aimar, who is commander of the 163rd Reconnaissance
Wing here and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology. But when a
Predator fires a missile, "you watch it all the way to impact, and I mean it’s very vivid, it’s right there and personal. So it does stay in people’s minds for a long time."
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/08/flying-drones-f/

New technology creates new problems?
:eyes:

[LWolf]

1. My ex

is a predator mechanic. Civil support for military operations. He was deployed 3 times a year while I was still married to him; our marriage ended as GWB was inaugurated for the first time.

His comments, from memory; not exact, but they were repeated often enough that the gist is the same:

"The guys that are assigned to the Predator are those who don't qualify to fly their own fighters or bombers. They resent being stuck with the drones, and they treat them like shit. They don't really care how fast they use them up.

The airforce also does a piss-poor job trying to maintain them, which is why I keep having to do it for them. I was supposed to be training them, but they don't want to learn how to service UAVs. I may be doing this job the rest of my life."

A licensed private pilot, and an A&P, he is still working on Predators, even though we don't talk any more.

I don't know if the pilots' attitudes changed once there was a war on, but originally, they sure as hell weren't bragging. Of course, Predators weren't armed with anything but surveillance equipment at that time. Maybe getting to blow things up makes a difference.

[Tesha]

2. "Ender's Game" come to life. (NT)

[donco]

3. Hhmm...kinda makes you wonder

if they get combat pay or Combat Action Ribbons.?

[trof]

5. Yeah. I wonder?

:eyes:

[YankeyMCC]

4. New technology ....

gives rise to ancient problems.

inflicting suffering begets suffering and it doesn't help that instead of being told to face the feelings and given proper support in dealing with the feelings these pilots and all the fighting men and women are told something along the lines of - Don't feel bad about killing because it is right.

Even beyond questions of a right and wrong of these wars (any war) inflicting suffering is never in one direction only.