SOUTHWEST ASIA — An MQ-9 Reaper deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve has been referred to the Equal Opportunity office for mostly targeting darker-skinned ISIS militants.
Since arriving in-theater this January, "Smokey 81" has flown numerous missions over Iraq to provide an aerial surveillance capability for special operations forces carrying out direct action missions against ISIS.
On several occasions, Smokey — whose preferred pronoun is "he" — has helped turn the tide of battle with air-to-ground missile strikes and by providing enhanced situational awareness. To his chain of command's dismay, most of his targets have visibly been individuals of Middle Eastern and North African descent.
"I remember Smokey being our eye-in-the-sky during a firefight downrange," said Sgt. Gary Rivers, a Marine Raider and designated marksman. "Smokey was calling out targets for me, and I realized afterward that he was telling me to shoot the brown and olive-skinned fighters. The ones who escaped looked like foreign fighters from Europe or America."
