This has to be one of the most self-congratulatory pieces of mental masturbation I've ever read. If I had the time, I'd seriously consider writing in to the AF magazine and give them my .02, but I have to actually, you know, deploy to combat shortly... again.
No one argues that UAV/UAS/RPA/Whatever-you-want-to-call-yourself-this-week are providing necessary combat support, but to imply that they assume the same risks as manned aircraft operating over hostile territory is absurd and downright delusional. If your Pred loses link, the odds that you wind up in an orange jumpsuit on Al Jazeera are nonexistent. No one is lobbing 107mm rockets at Tonopah or March AFB and driving to work under the illusion of some Chicken Littleesque terrorism threat is not the same thing.
I'm sorry Major, you're wrong and no tactical aviator with a shred of self-respect will ever cede that point. Despite the lack of a viable anti-air threat, mechanical failures and other factors are still inherent dangers to manned tactical aviation. And with those risks come the 'rewards' of calling yourself a combat aviator.
Having dealt with Preds and Reapers as both a pilot in Iraq and terminally-controlled them multiple times as a FAC in Afghanistan, there is still a noticeable difference between controlling them vice controlling a manned asset, and I think you would be hard pressed to find a JTAC who would prefer MQs over traditional CAS platforms in a dynamic environment. Yes, 14 hrs TOS is nice, but when things get heated and the tempo picks up, I'd much prefer a reliable, real-time radio link with someone exposed to generally the same environment as me and not a chat room full of analysts second-guessing me.
At the end of the day, you hand over the controls to another operator, drive home, crack open a beer, and fuck your wife, while we have to call in another airstrike or medevac, go back to our can/tent/mud hut on a radio tether, and count the days till we get to do the same. So in summation, [redacted].
/Enough tirade for now. Sorry, but things like "knowing your role" is a sore spot for me. It's ok to be a supportING element and not have it be glamorous. It's necessary.
