Photo Credit to Rich Voza
110 in The Shade
The pilot wiped the sweat and dust from his brow and coaxed the joystick, “Just one more pass baby.”
His man on the ground had been confident when he called in the strike.
There was no space in his head for hesitation but the memories of the prior one hundred fly bys had solidified: women and children and long white coats.
The order came from above but the decision would forever nest in his soul. Today the Nevada desert was one level closer to Dante’s Inferno and a faceless hospital disappeared in a cloud of sand 7000 miles away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The drone pilots at Creech Air Force base in Indian Springs, Nevada fly over 60 unmanned drone missions every day collecting intelligence on enemy strong holds and troop movements. By 2015 the US drone pilots had flown approximately 3000 missions over Iraq and Syria, they had coordinated over 800 air strikes on militant targets. Right or wrong, robotic warfare is the new reality and in every form of warfare there will be immeasurable human costs to civilians and military personnel and yet we seem no closer to lasting peace.
To see more Friday Fictioneers take flight, parachute into Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ blog.
Buckle up, sit back and enjoy the flight.
Tracey Delaplain, MD 
Good story, Tracey! I never heard of Creech Airbase before. You captured the essence.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s in my backyard so to speak (400 miles south) so we grew up with first the nuclear test site and now the drone airbase.
LikeLike
I’d have thought you wrote science fiction, yet it’s real. I’m terrified! Well-penned!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Very real war games. I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting,
Tracey
LikeLike
warriors in the past were brave and sometimes chivalrous, the present day warriors need neither bravery nor chivalry
http://obliqview.blogspot.com/2016/06/one-hour-prompt-rich-voza-she-had.html
LikeLike
Soldiers follow orders. It has always been so. Perhaps we ask too much of them to secure the lifestyles we enjoy.
LikeLike
I met a guy who worked at one of these remote control centres here in the UK. I could see he was very close to the edge. Great take on the prompt Tracey, I’m sure this must be a truly difficult job.
LikeLike
I agree. Pilots have always been some distance from their targets so perhaps, 10 miles and 7000 miles feels the same. Killing is killing after all. Thanks for reading.
LikeLike
High speed remote strikes from an armchair it just seem wrong. You depicted the failings so well
LikeLike
Thank you Micheal.
LikeLike
Dear Tracey,
Thank you for adding to the mounting dread in the pit of my stomach. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLike
It’s difficult to feel safe anywhere these days. Thank you for reading Rochelle.
LikeLike
The hospital came as a shock… and then go home after work, A truly surreal feeling.
LikeLike
Yes, I imagine so. Thanks Bjorn.
LikeLike
Pretty chilling – more so because the pilot is so far removed from what he/she has done.
LikeLike
True but don’t you think pilots are always removed from their targets. I’ve never asked a wartime pilot how they felt about their job. Maybe it doesn’t matter how close you are to the actual killing, it must have an impact on you regardless.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It took a few reads to get what was going on(particularly after reading the section on drone warfare). It seems that no matter how we advance technologically we always find newer ways of killing each other. MLK said that our scientific and technological power has surpassed our moral and spiritual power; and warned that the very technology we thought could save us also gives us the weapons that could kill all life on the planet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And so it goes. More and more technology and no one feels any safer and history keeps repeating itself. Thanks for stopping by and for retweeting too. My poor Twitter account gets neglected.
Tracey
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved the line, “the decision would forever nest in his soul.” That phrase said it all for me. Extremely well written, Tracey.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. I can only imagine what it feels like to be conflicted about your orders as a soldier, yet bound by your honor and duty to serve your country. Someone I love was a Marine sniper and even he can’t find the words to explain it to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well written and totally believable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Liz. I agree with your sentiments this week. “Don’t mess with my family!” http://lizy-writes.blogspot.co.uk/
LikeLike
So much to think about from so few words.
Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s mind boggling even though I know it to be true. Thank you Dawn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I find drones uncomfortable for the reasons you list above. Good story!
LikeLike
Chilling to think about and most of us never will have to but it will nest in his soul. Great line
LikeLiked by 1 person
That line felt right to me. It’s the cost of waging war. Some soldiers may be more resilient but none are immune. Maybe with time they can sweep out the nests. I hope so.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You brought the reality of long-distance warface very starkly to life here. The days of face-to-face combat are gone for some but the consequences of actions are still just as imemdiate.
This brought to mind the film “Eye In The Sky” – well worth seeing if you haven’t already
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reality bites. I’ll check it out. Thank you TRG.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A gripping story. Warfare requires combatants to perform moral gymnastics, and maybe distance and anonymity make it a little easier – I’m not sure. There has to be a cost. Lots to think about.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, there is always a cost. Thank you for commenting Margaret.
LikeLike