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DoD Award To Recognize Drone Operators (securityweek.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the here's-your-medal dept.

wiredmikey writes: According to a Pentagon memo due out today, the US military will create a new way to recognize drone operators and other service members who contribute to America's fighting efforts from afar. The military is set to introduce a new "R" designation — known as a "device" — that can be attached to medals given to drone operators and other non-combat troops, such as cyber warriors who hack enemy networks. Former defense secretary Chuck Hagel nixed a proposed new combat medal for US troops who launch drone strikes or cyber attacks, after a torrent of criticism from veterans and lawmakers. Drone pilots have complained of low morale, long hours and of the psychological impacts stemming from killing people remotely.

10 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Recognize them??? by mark-t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For what?

    Aren't military medals supposed to be for noble things like bravery, heroism, or honour? What's honourable about taking out an opponent from so far away that the risk to yourself is nonexistent?

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:Recognize them??? by mark-t · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Snipers do, to an extent, put themselves in a line of fire... certainly they are close enough to be facing some personal risk, even if they are hidden. There is always a chance of discovery. Controlling a robot form afar to let it fight for you is not taking any kind of risk at all.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    2. Re:Recognize them??? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Aren't military medals supposed to be for noble things like bravery, heroism, or honour?

      I served in the military, and was awarded several medals. None of them were for bravery, heroism, or honour. Most of them were for being in the right place at the right time, such as the SASM and the NDSM. I also got a NAM, or "atta boy medal" for doing my job during a peacetime deployment.

      I don't see any reason drone operators shouldn't get a medal of their own. They are doing more to earn it than I did.

    3. Re:Recognize them??? by CrankyFool · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, incorrect. While some awards (e.g. the Bronze Star, Medal of Honor) are given for unusual behavior (e.g. heroism), the military has the worlds' original badge system. There are badges for everything. For example, you can get the Silver Chevron if you've served in a war but stateside for at least six months (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...).

      So it's entirely reasonable to say "there's something distinctive about this group that merits its own device" -- most devices have nothing to do with heroism.

    4. Re:Recognize them??? by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I haven't suggested that I don't support military action where it's appropriate, I just don't think that doing what essentially amounts to hiding in a control room potentially many miles away from a target and letting what is basically a robot fight for you is doing anything that is particularly worthy of a medal.

      Medals are for recognition - sure you might be hiding in a control room, but there are circumstances where what you did deserves recognition.

      Drones are often deployed in support roles - providing an eyes in the sky view for the ground team, for example. While out on patrol, the ground team gets pinned because of an unknown shooter. So while their lives are in danger, the drone operator flies around and then sports the shooter and relays their coordinates to the ground team so they know where to look and try to take it out.

      At the end of the mission, those guys on the ground are thankful for the drone operator to provide support - it could've ended very badly. Perhaps the guy in the air conditioned control room stateside should get a little recognition for that? Because I'm sure that team doesn't care about the drone operator's working conditions, but they're damn appreciative he was there.

    5. Re:Recognize them??? by sociocapitalist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For what?

      Aren't military medals supposed to be for noble things like bravery, heroism, or honour? What's honourable about taking out an opponent from so far away that the risk to yourself is nonexistent?

      Which is exactly why their morale is so low - which in turn is what military medals are for...to raise the morale of someone doing a shit job well so that they keep doing it well.

      --
      blindly antisocialist = antisocial
    6. Re:Recognize them??? by shawn2772 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And this is what we're reduced to. Now we have participation trophies in the military. Everyone's a winner. What's the point of these if everyone gets them?

      There are different medals for different things, and you'd better believe that members of the military look at, say, a Silver Star or a Distinguished Service Medal very differently from an achievement medal. Medals of lower value do still have value. The offer a chance for recognition in front of your peers, in a persistent way (since you wear ribbons or medals on some of your uniforms), they provide a persistent proof of competence and capability in your personnel file (helpful for determining promotions), and they document important and meaningful aspects of your career, such as that you were in an active combat theater with its concomitant risks, even if you didn't actually get injured or do anything heroic. To an experienced service member, a glance at another person's "fruit salad" tells you a lot about who they are and what they've done, not merely by the number of commendations but by their type.

  2. "psychological impacts" by firewrought · · Score: 3, Insightful

    the psychological impacts stemming from killing people remotely

    Also called conscience, but no worries... a little piece of decorative metal will make it so worth it!

    --
    -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
  3. Re:The Yellowbelly Medal by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like, say, Generals?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Re:No. by thegarbz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just because you have a history of some people in your family getting medals for doing some real combat doesn't change the fact that medals are given out for a wide variety of reasons, not all of them to do with combat, and in some cases given out without even being at war, or for just being deployed in the correct country not necessarily doing any combat.