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Air Force Hires Civilian Drone Pilots For Combat Patrols (latimes.com)

Posted by timothy on from the ender's-game dept.

schwit1 writes: For the first time, civilian pilots and crews now operate what the Air Force calls "combat air patrols," daily round-the-clock flights above areas of military operations to provide video and collect other sensitive intelligence. Civilians are not allowed to pinpoint targets with lasers or fire missiles. They operate only Reapers that provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, known as ISR, said Air Force Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command.

3 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. so, open season on American civilians now? by Khashishi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    After all, if I were at war with the United States, they would be legitimate targets. And presumably, if they didn't wear uniforms and hid among civilians, then US is to blame for any "collateral damage" from bombing civilian centers. After all, there are unlawful combatants hiding among them.

    1. Re:so, open season on American civilians now? by silas_moeckel · · Score: 4, Interesting

      To be at war requires you have a nation state and declared war. No nation state is willing to openly declare war so we end up with nation state sponsored or at least ignored terrorism/asymmetric warfare.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
  2. Require military trigger pullers by Etherwalk · · Score: 5, Informative

    TFA explicitly points out that the civilians will not be pulling the trigger. They will be used only for Combat Air Patrols (a term that seems just a bit inappropriate) that are for data gathering and surveillance only. The trigger pullers will be active duty military.

    The problem, in TFA's eyes is that this represents a slippery slope - how many degrees of separation do you need in a military setting?

    IIRC, the air force has about four major protocol points that they follow in order to ensure that drone strikes are legal. One of those is that the person pulling the trigger be military so that you are ensured a direct chain of command, i.e. legal authority to kill others on behalf of the state, (this also ensures they get qualified immunity from lawsuits.)