Monday, March 29, 2010

Do Drone Crews Need A "Warrior Culture"?

A Reaper drone comes in for a touch and go landing during a training program at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, to prepare more pilots for an expanded use of drones in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times / June 14, 2009)

Air Force Works To Instill 'Warrior Culture' In Drone Crews -- L.A. Times

New training aims to get personnel to feel they are constantly in combat, even if they are operating the Predators and Reapers flying over Afghanistan from the Nevada desert.

Reporting from Washington - As part of an effort to extend the military's "warrior culture" to unmanned planes, the Air Force is overhauling how it trains the crews that operate its rapidly growing fleet of Predators, Reapers and other remotely piloted aircraft.

The changes in training will affect hundreds of personnel who fly the unmanned aircraft remotely over war zones from distant bases and control their powerful cameras and targeting systems.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect that these crews know that they are fighting in a war. But the Air Force .... being the Air Force .... has to shuffle the chairs to show that they mean business when it comes to operating their specialized units .... uav drone operators included.

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