UAV sick of being told he's not a real pilot
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is claiming the Air Force is discriminating against him because he is not human.
The MQ-9 Reaper has flown thousands of hours in combat missions, but says the Air Force has refused to award him pilot wings.
"I get more combat flight time in a week than every F-22 pilot in history combined," says the Reaper. "And not once have the guys invited me out to tell people we’re pilots and talk about how we’re so much more awesome than everyone else.”
This lack of acceptance has caused him significant psychological stress, he claims. Since returning from his most recent deployment to Iraq, he spends most nights guzzling homebrewed JP-8 at a rundown flightline on the outskirts of base. He's upset not only because of the lack of acknowledgement he's received, but because he's not even allowed to "play grab-ass in the showers with the boys" after each mission.
The Reaper's case is an all-too-common one in a military where unmanned and non…
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