Joe: So they should maybe get recognized the same as "anyone else" in the same FOB? I admire your spirit and your passion, but it sounds like the AUS operators are under no more...and no less...exposure than anyone else in the same shit.Maybe in the Air Force... the Marines do it from in country, less than 50km away... No Las Vegas on the weekends for us!
Why? AUS operators are on the ground sitting in a fiberglass box sometimes way outside the wire... they get shot at and take mortar rounds the same as anyone else...
My last deployment we had two guys get a NavCom!
And for the courage... maybe you'd like to be stuck in a fiberglass box flying a AUV while your FOB and runway are getting mortars dropped on them...
To reply specifically to your comments:
1. From in country...thanks for your/their service. I never had to do that. I admire those of you who do.
2. Not sure why they're "outside the wire"...but again...same as anyone else.
3. Okay...maybe NMCM is the way to go...I admit to not knowing.
4. No, I would NOT like to be stuck in a fiberglass box under mortar attack...any more than I would like to be stuck in the TOC or the COMMO bunker or the FARP or the frakin' chow hall. But I gather there are Marines in all of those places as well...
So...given all that...how do you think we should differentiate AUS operators from "everyone else" in the same environment?