I just posted a new shot of the Predator UAV, and I decided to weigh in on this in the hope of starting a discussion on the subject.

Several years ago, when I was in USAF ROTC, I wrote a paper on the coming wave of unmanned aerial vehicles on their way into the USAF inventory. The Predator, Reaper and Global Hawk are fantastic aircraft... in the role that they were designed for; Reconnaissance. However, many "experts" seem to think that taking the human out of the cockpit of front line fighters is safer for several reasons. First and foremost, no American lives would have to be risked in combat if no human pilots were in the cockpit. Secondly, the greatest limitation to aircraft design at this point is the pilot. The aircraft are certainly capable of pulling more Gs than a human being could cope with.

My opinion is that if something is worth killing for, it had better be worth dying for. At the time (and more and more I'm feeling this way again, maybe it's time to look into the Air Guard.) I felt that if my country said that a matter was worth taking another persons life over, I was willing to place my life on the line to do that. Otherwise, there's no accountability. Risk is the ultimate set of checks and balances. Without risking an American soldiers life, We wouldn't have any emotional investment in bombing or invading another country. I envision Generals, sitting in their office with their boots up on their desks, watching their war real-time on their computer monitor. Smoking cigars and enjoying the war movie as it happens.

Not only that, but there's no way a guy at a desk hundreds of miles away flying the damed thing is capable of making the split second decisions and seeing the whole batttlefield in the same way that a pilot in the cockpit can. Almost ten years ago, during the Kosovo conflict, The Air Force decided that it was going to scale back the use of A-10s in close air support roles (for which it was designed) and moved F-16s into the picture. An F-16 pilot, who doesn't have the liberties of loiter time, slow speeds, or durability in the face of enemy fire, sighted what he thought might be an enemy vehicle traveling along a road, and in the limited time he had to make the decision, he fired and destroyed the vehicle: A tractor, pulling a trailer full of refugees. Wrong equipment for the mission. And we seemed to have learned nothing from this.

Apart from being a pilot, and being adamantly opposed to having my job taken away by a radio controlled airplane, I believe there are several serious moral issues that go along with Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles. Where does it stop from there? Unmanned tanks? Robotic soldiers? Fuck it, why bother sending anything but nukes?

This is merely my opinion. I have the utmost respect for those laying their lives on the line everyday all around the world to protect our freedom. Whether or not I agree with the conflicts with which we are currently engaged, I Respect every man and woman who puts on the uniform in the morning.

I actually am seriously considering joining the Air National Guard after I finish with Embry-Riddle as a way to supplement my income, get some benefits for my wife and kids (coming soon. hopefully) and let the government pay for me to get some more hours.
Guess I better start running again.