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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US military is shifting its focus toward the Indo-Pacific region amid competition with China.</li><li>That shift means US troops are doing more training to deal with conditions specific to that region.</li></ul>Georgia-based Air Force special operators deployed to the Pacific this spring for jungle-warfare training.Such training is nothing new for US troops, but this exercise comes as the US military is shifting its focus a potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region — where US conventional and special-operations forces may find themselves up against a well-armed enemy in a dense, sweltering jungle.Air Force Special Operations Command commandos from the 38th Rescue Squadron based at Moody Air Force Base spent almost a month between March and April in <keyword id="11940260" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hawaii" source="Orion">Hawaii</keyword> to hone their jungle-warfare skills.As <keyword id="14236253" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pararescuemen" source="Orion">pararescuemen</keyword>, these commandos focused their training on tracking personnel in the jungle and on avoiding being tracked themselves, while also testing their tactics, techniques, and procedures in other skill sets.In a press release, Lt. Col. Michael Vins, the squadron's commanding officer, <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/418363/welcome-jungle-special-warfare-airmen-acclimate-indo-pacific-environment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that the jungle is a "very unforgiving environment" and that US special operators "need to be ready for that kind of environment by training there, understanding how to survive there."<div type="image" title="Air Force pararescuemen jungle training Hawaii" height="1331" width="2000" msid="92321506" hostid="261"></div>As US special operators found in World War II and Vietnam, the jungle is probably one of the hardest places to fight. Visibility is limited — sometimes to just a few yards — and the surroundings are rife with dangers, including poisonous plants and lethal animals, that can put troops out of commission pretty quickly.US troops have had "to take a step back" from what worked in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan and figure out what works in the jungle, "which is way more difficult to operate in," Staff Sgt. Evan Rogowski said in the release."It's pretty unpredictable out here," Rogowski added. "It can be raining in the morning and then completely sunny in the afternoon, and back to rain. Outside of carrying the proper equipment, there's not much we can do to control that."During the Vietnam War, US special-operations recon teams from the highly secretive Military Assistance Command Vietnam-Studies and Observations Group lived and fought in the jungles of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, where they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/capturing-prisoners-was-most-dangerous-macv-sog-vietnam-war-mission-2021-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tracked the movements</a> of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops and fought <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/green-beret-recalls-dangerous-thanksgiving-mission-during-vietnam-war-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">running battles against an often overwhelming enemy</a>.MACV-SOG <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/macv-sog-created-in-vietnam-still-influences-us-special-operations-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still influences modern US special operations</a>, but many of the jungle-warfare skills those Vietnam-era operators developed have atrophied.<div type="image" title="Air Force pararescuemen jungle training Hawaii" height="1331" width="2000" msid="92321507" hostid="261"></div>"As highly trained special warfare operators, we're always thinking about modern-day warfare and high-tech weapon systems, but something so primitive like grenades that roll out of bamboo if you kick the wrong stick over is enough to wipe us all out," Staff Sgt. Evan Orth said in the release.The importance of fundamental combat skills and small-unit tactics are constants wherever troops find themselves, but what troops need to do to properly apply them can change radically in different locations.Orth added that by training in the jungle, the pararescuemen would be "more aware of threats" that they wouldn't otherwise expect.Tracking people in the jungle has dual importance for pararescumen and other special operators. Whether they are pursuing an enemy or trying to rescue a friendly, the principles are the same.The "footprint" of that target "is going to explain a story to you," Rogowski said in the release. "Where that person went, what they did, how fast they were moving, where they're going to, are they paranoid? And I think that's kind of hard to put into words unless you've actually been there."<h2>Air Commandos</h2><div type="image" title="Air Force pararescuemen jungle training Hawaii" height="1331" width="2000" msid="92321510" hostid="261"></div><keyword id="12145991" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="us-air-force-special-operations-command" source="Orion">US Air Force Special Operations Command</keyword> is the Air Force component of <keyword id="11993049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="us-special-operations-command" source="Orion">US Special Operations Command</keyword>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-changes-how-it-recruits-and-trains-special-operators-2020-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its Air Commandos</a> provide air transport, close air support, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-command-and-control-exercise-in-alaskan-arctic-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">precision strike, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities</a> to other special-operations units.AFSOC itself has two components. In the air, it operates a variety of special-operations aircraft, including the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ac130-gunship-has-supported-special-operations-for-55-years-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AC-130 "Spooky" gunship</a>, the CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, the MQ-9 Reaper drone, that support other US commando units.On the ground, AFSOC's pararescuemen, special reconnaissance operators, combat controllers, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-troops-in-asia-europe-train-for-close-air-support-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tactical air control party commandos</a> augment other special-operations units as individuals or in teams, acting as a link to forces in the air.<div type="image" title="Air Force pararescuemen jungle training Hawaii" height="1331" width="2000" msid="92321511" hostid="261"></div><keyword id="14236252" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pararescue" source="Orion">Pararescue</keyword> is unique among the US military's career fields. Pararescuemen specialize in combat search and rescue and personnel recovery and are probably some of the most competent medics in the entire military.Reflecting their motto, "so that others may live," pararescuemen are ready to deploy anywhere to search for or recover US troops. To do so, pararescuemen need to be familiar with and proficient in every operational environment."The lessons and skills learned here will further expand the way we operate in the" Indo-Pacific, Rogowski said of the exercise in Hawaii. "We'll take these lessons and shape our [tactics, techniques, and procedures] for the future of special operations, personnel recovery, and combat search and rescue."Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.

US Air Force commandos trained to rescue other troops are getting used to a 'way more difficult' environment in the Pacific

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">US Air ForceU.S. Air Force pararescue Airmen conduct helicopter hoist training Nov. 5, 2018 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.</div></div></div>US Air Force Pararescue specialists, or PJs, are one of the most elite special operators in the world. Consisting of about 500 airmen, PJs "rescue and recover downed aircrews from hostile or otherwise unreachable areas," <a href="https://www.airforce.com/careers/detail/pararescue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Air Force.These "highly trained experts perform rescues in every type of terrain and partake in every part of the mission, from search and rescue, to combat support to providing emergency medical treatment, in order to ensure that every mission is a successful one.""One of the challenges [in Afghanistan] is the altitude and terrain because we are surrounded by mountains," Maj. Jason Egger, 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron commander at Bagram Airfield, said in a <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Department news release on the training."We overcome that challenge by working with the Army pilots, which gives us the capability to get to the altitude we need and insert the teams," Egger added. Here's how PJs rescue troops in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan.

Here's how the US Air Force's elite PJ special operators rescue troops in the mountains of Afghanistan

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An A-10 pilot received the <keyword id="12547321" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="distinguished-flying-cross" source="Orion">Distinguished Flying Cross</keyword> recently for heroism during a fight 10 years ago.</li><li>His actions were part of what one official called "one of the most intense combat rescue missions of the Afghanistan war."</li></ul>A US <keyword id="6354954" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="air-force" source="Orion">Air Force</keyword> <keyword id="11899497" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="a-10-thunderbolt-ii" source="Orion">A-10 Thunderbolt II</keyword> attack aircraft pilot received a prestigious award recently for his role in a dangerous rescue mission 10 years ago in Afghanistan, <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">the Air Force said in a statement</a>.Lt. Col. Mike "Vago" Hilkert, a pilot with the 303rd Fighter Squadron, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross last month for heroism during what has been described as "one of the most intense combat rescue missions of the Afghanistan war."During that six-hour fight on April 23, 2011, Hilkert not only coordinated the warfighting efforts of 21 aircraft over dozens of frequencies, but he also intentionally put himself and his plane in harm's way repeatedly to draw enemy fire away from rescue helicopters.The Air Force said Hilkert also helped save the lives of more than 30 people.In the early hours of the day, when it was still dark, two Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters carrying pararescuemen were sent out to respond to a downed Army helicopter.One helicopter, call sign Pedro 83, dropped three pararescuemen onto a ridge several hundred feet from the crash site, where they found one of the Army helicopter pilots alive. The other Pave Hawk, Pedro 84, dropped two PJs closer to the crash site. The other pilot was dead when they arrived.The PJs and their helicopters began taking heavy fire almost immediately.Pedro 84 took heavy fire, and the flight engineer was shot in the leg, forcing the helicopter to return to base to get the airman medical attention and to grab another engineer. The two PJs, Staff Sgts. Zachary Kline and Bill Cenna, were left at the crash site.Pedro 83 tried to get the three PJs and the surviving pilot out but had to cut the hoist. Rather than hoisting them up, the pilots opted to lower the helicopter down into what <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">the Air Force said was</a> "a daring one-wheel hover" to get them back.Supported by AH-64 Apache helicopters flying overwatch, Kline and Cenna took cover in a rock outcropping, but they were forced to abandon that position and relocate as enemy fire set off the munitions on the downed Army helicopter.<div type="image" title="A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 163rd Fighter Squadron flies a mission over Afghanistan." height="667" width="1000" msid="87747398" hostid="261"></div>Hilkert, then a captain with the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, was supporting operations in another area in his A-10C when the call for help came in over the Guard frequency."You need to understand that in a combat zone using Guard is sacred — a last resort," Lt. Col. Rick Mitchell, the 442d Operations Group deputy commander who presented Hilkert with the DFC, <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">said in a statement</a>, calling it "a true sign that things are bad, and someone needs help."Hilkert, fueled by Rip-It energy drinks and flying a plane identified as Hawg 73, joined forces with Capt. Rustin "Trombone" Traynham and Lt. Col. David "Seymour" Haworth in Hawg 71 and 74 respectively, creating Sandy 1, a force of three A-10s.They fired rockets into the valley while Hilkert established airspace restriction and communications relays for coordinating the fight.The rockets gave Kline and Cenna a short reprieve before they soon found themselves taking heavy machine gun fire at close range, within 50 meters, <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">according to the Air Force</a>.Hilkert managed to identify the threat and relay targeting information to the other two A-10s while refueling, which is no easy task, and the two other pilots opened fire with their 30 mm cannons, "saving Kline's and Cenna's lives," the Air Force said.Two groups of 16 Army quick reaction force soldiers landed at two different locations later that morning, immediately coming under fire. One soldier was killed, and at least one other was hurt.Hilkert tracked one group with his binoculars while monitoring the other with his targeting pod. He also coordinated the efforts of the attack helicopters, tanker, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, and the other attack aircraft to shield ground forces from friendly fire while tracking enemy positions.As ground forces took fire, two rescue helicopters supported by two Apaches and two A-10s flown by Hilkert and Haworth flew in to evacuate a wounded soldier, but the helicopters kept having to fall back amid heavy incoming fire.To draw enemy fire away from the helicopters trying to carry out the rescue mission, Hilkert repeatedly flew his aircraft into danger.His award citation explains that he "knowingly and selflessly put his aircraft in harm's way to ensure the survival of the rescue package, which ensured no further loss of assets despite nine observed surface to air fires."He helped clear landing zones, facilitating the rescue of the wounded soldier. Later, the other rescue helicopter flew in and got Kline and Cenna, who managed to get the fallen Army pilot out as well.Though the Air Force praised Hilkert, saying that his "skill and vigilance led to the securing of two landing zones, rescuing the two Guardian Angels, and recovering the downed pilot and evacuation of the 32 soldiers in the QRF team," he said the experience was "bittersweet.""I'm honored to be amongst a group of heroes that did their best with a bad situation," he said in a statement. "Several people lost their lives during this mission, so it wasn't all high fives when we got home. We flew back to Kandahar in silence."Hilkert is the fourth Air Force pilot who participated in that mission to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross. Additionally, two pararescue airmen received Silver Stars, as did two helicopter pilots.Air Force Times, <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/11/12/a-harrowing-night-in-afghanistan-earns-a-10-pilot-the-distinguished-flying-cross-10-years-later/">which first reported Hilkert's actions</a>, said that his recent award was the result of a renewed award application backed by the support of a number of leaders. Hilkert is currently a member of the Air Force Reserve.

This A-10 pilot repeatedly drew fire away from rescue helicopters during an intense firefight 10 years ago. He finally received an award for it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Daily Beast has identified <keyword id="100154" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sergey-Brin">Sergey Brin</keyword> as the sole donor to a secretive disaster-response <keyword id="6351" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="charity">charity</keyword> called <keyword id="3160954" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="GSD">GSD</keyword>.</li><li>GSD sends its staff, many of whom are ex-military, to disaster areas around the world on a super-yacht called "Dragonfly."</li><li>It now says it is helping with COVID-19 testing in California.</li></ul>Sergey Brin, <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword> cofounder and world's eighth-richest person, has a secret disaster-response team according to a report by <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/google-co-founder-sergey-brin-has-a-secret-disaster-relief-squad?ref=home">The Daily Beast</a>.The Daily Beast's investigation found Brin was the sole donor to a disaster charity called Global Support and Development (GSD). The Beast identified Brin as the company's sole donor through a California court filing.The company, almost half of whose staff are ex-military, arrives at disaster areas on a superyacht called "Dragonfly" to clear debris and use high-tech solutions to assist victims. GSD is headed up by Grant Dawson, an ex-naval lieutenant who was one of Brin's personal security detail for years.The idea for GSD was apparently sparked in 2015 when the yacht's captain was sailing past Vanuatu, which had just been hit by Cyclone Pam. The captain contacted Brin to ask if anything could be done to help, and Brin in turn got in touch with Dawson. Dawson said in a speech in 2019 about GSD: "So I grabbed a number of Air Force para-rescue guys I'd been affiliated with from the security world, and a couple of corpsmen out of the [Navy] Seal teams [...] We raided every Home Depot and pharmacy we could find and on about 18 hours' notice, we launched."The Daily Beast reports GSD now has 20 full-time staff plus about 100 contractors working for it.The Daily Beast reports that, like at Google, GSD's employees enjoy perks including strawberry ice cream and fresh laundry aboard the superyacht while working in disaster areas. As well as military-trained staff the charity has access to sophisticated technology including drones and sonar mapping.Since 2015 GSD has assisted during several disasters including hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic activity. Now the company says it is helping during the coronavirus pandemic by helping set up testing in California. "GSD provided operational support to stand up the first two drive-through test centers in California and planning and logistic support for other test centers as they opened across the state," GSD says on its <a href="https://gsd.ngo/covid19">website</a>. "Our paramedics and support staff also partnered with the Hayward, California Fire Department to perform more than 8,000 swab tests at their drive-through test site and local eldercare facilities," it adds.Rob Reich, co-director of Stanford University's Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, told The Daily Beast that <keyword id="58178" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="disaster-relief">disaster relief</keyword> is good work, but it shouldn't be secretive. "There should be an expectation of transparency, to understand how his charity interacts with existing efforts at disaster relief, and so we citizens can examine whether it's consistent with what democratic institutions want to accomplish," said Reich.GSD did not respond on the record to The Daily Beast, which was unsuccessful in trying to contact Brin personally. GSD was not immediately able to respond to Business Insider.

Google billionaire Sergey Brin has a secret charity that sends ex-military staff into disaster zones on a superyacht

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An internal review by US Special Operations Command says that an "unhealthy sense of entitlement" was fostered among its newest candidates during their training.</li><li>The review comes amid numerous recent reports of misconduct within the elite communities.</li><li>Such allegations of misconduct "didn't happen during our period," a former Delta Force commander told Business Insider. "We really were severe about policing ourselves. If you have a guy on your team that even had an inkling of being out of hand, he's gone."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>A new internal review by US Special Operations Command says an "unhealthy sense of entitlement" was fostered among its newest candidates during their training process.The unclassified report, titled "Comprehensive Review of Special Operations Forces," focused on the culture and ethics in the special-operations community, which includes Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force, Marine Corps Raiders, and Air Force Pararescue specialists.The review of the community was done after lawmakers called for investigations into the "misconduct and unethical behavior" by its service members, which "threatened public trust," the report said.The review also comes amid numerous reports of misconduct within the elite communities in recent months. In one instance in September, three senior leaders from a Navy SEAL Team were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seal-kicked-out-of-iraq-accused-rape-female-service-member-2019-7">fired</a> after "leadership failure," including sexual assault and drinking alcohol during a deployment to Iraq.Despite the examples of misconduct, the review found that SOCOM did not have "a systemic ethics problem" and that a "cultural focus" on recruitment and "mission accomplishment" negatively affected "leadership, discipline, and accountability."One of the provided examples included the initial training process for new recruits for special-operations forces, or SOF, who are often "segregated" from other service members undergoing conventional training. The report found that there was an "overemphasis on physical training" and questioned whether the recruits demonstrated a "balance of character and competence.""Negative aspects of [special-operations forces] segregation and entitlement were identified in certain Component recruiting, preparatory courses and early entry training," the report said. "Overemphasis on physical training often comes at the expense of Service-specific professional development and acculturation."While SOCOM deemed the current curriculum for new recruits "mostly appropriate," it added that the "lack of exposure" to the military's "foundation and culture" created "a sense of entitlement."Special-operations troops typically receive unique funding and gear for their missions, which are outside the scope of conventional units. SOCOM's <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/02/23/special-operations-command-asks-for-more-troops-biggest-budget-yet/">budget requests</a> to Congress have increased steadily in recent years, from $11.8 billion in 2007, to $13.6 billion in 2019."It didn't happen during our period," a former Delta Force commander told Business Insider, referring to misconduct allegations within the community. "We really were severe about policing ourselves. If you have a guy on your team that even had an inkling of being out of hand, he's gone.""The misbehavior comes in waves, and please believe me I'm not being partisan when I say this, [but] the SEALs have a tough time with it," the commander added. "It always happens in warfare. You always have some of those guys who [have been] waiting all their life to show that they're a psychopath or they're trying to impress one another - it's juvenile that they're trying to show how tough they are in a perverted manner."In a letter to SOCOM members following the report, the command's senior leaders stressed that there were areas where improvement was needed."We have an incredible force, and the vast majority of you demonstrate that every day," US Army Gen. Richard Clarke, the head of SOCOM, and US Navy Chief Master Sgt. Gregory Smith, the command's senior enlisted adviser, said in the signed letter."The bottom line is that we have disproportionately focused on SOF employment and mission accomplishment at the expense of the training and development of our force," the leaders added. "In some cases, this imbalance has set conditions for unacceptable conduct to occur due to a lack of leadership, discipline, and accountability."

US military's Special Operations Command says its newest recruits may have an 'unhealthy sense of entitlement'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>As the threat from the Soviet Union declined in the early 1990s, a new challenge for the US arose in the Middle East.</li><li>The first <keyword id="67272" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gulf-war">Gulf War</keyword> was a textbook conventional war, but it featured an array special-operations missions that helped secure victory.</li></ul>Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the US military shifted its focus from Russia to the Middle East.In August 1990, Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait, starting an <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> crisis that would end with Iraq's defeat by a US-led coalition six months later.Although Operation <keyword id="559503" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Desert-storm">Desert Storm</keyword> is considered a textbook conventional war, it was full of special-operations missions.<h2>Let us into the fight!</h2><div type="image" title="Army Delta Force Norman Schwarzkopf Gulf War" height="1656" width="2500" msid="81175655" hostid="261"></div>The first and biggest hurdle US special-operations units faced was getting into the battle.Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, the four-star commander of US Central Command and the war's military leader, viewed unconventional-warfare units with skepticism.Initially, Schwarzkopf was adamantly against special-operations units having any significant role in the conflict - though he did accept some <keyword id="621779" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Delta-Force">Delta Force</keyword> operators as personal bodyguards.Conversely, his second-in-command, British Gen. Sir Peter de la Billière, immediately called in the Special Air Service (SAS), which he had served in and commanded, and Special Boat Service (SBS). The SAS and SBS, the British equivalents of Delta Force and SEAL Team 6, respectively, offered unconventional-warfare options to the war effort.Meanwhile, after some persuasion from the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Schwarzkopf relaxed his no-commandos policy.Here is a brief breakdown of the notable operations they conducted.<h2>US <keyword id="1976377" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Army-Special-Forces">Army Special Forces</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="Army Special Forces Gulf War" height="544" width="800" msid="81175657" hostid="261"></div>Army Special Forces operators set up observation posts on the Saudi-Kuwaiti border to monitor Iraqi moves. Special Forces teams also conducted prisoner-snatching operations to provide the Coalition with more human intelligence, perhaps the most valuable form of intel.One team, Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 525, was compromised when Iraqi boys spotted its members conducting a special reconnaissance operation 150 miles inside Iraq.Alpha 525 chose not to kill the boys and instead tried to escape and evade. Over the following hours, the Iraqi Army almost overwhelmed them numerous times. The Green Berets escaped only because of their disciplined marksmanship and the close-air-support they received.Special Forces teams also conducted Foreign Internal Defense (FID) by training allies and partner forces. Although not as shiny as raids and ambushes, FID was key to the victory because it brought Coalition units up to speed and was the glue that kept the multi-national force together.Green Berets embedded with coalition units also served as liaisons, primarily between coalition units and US aircraft, and called close-air-support.<h2>British Special Air Service and Special Boat Service</h2><div type="image" title="British army infantry soldiers Gulf War Desert Storm" height="643" width="1024" msid="81175658" hostid="261"></div>British special-operations units played a vital role in the military buildup during Operation Desert Shield and during combat in Operation Desert Storm.Alongside their US counterparts, SAS and SBS operators <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-force-sas-hunted-iraqi-scud-missiles-during-gulf-war-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hunted for SCUD missiles in the Iraqi desert</a> and conducted special reconnaissance along the Saudi-Iraqi border and within Iraq.SBS operators also conducted a highly publicized assault on the British Embassy in Kuwait City, which the Iraqis had captured.They also participated in a lesser-known operation on the outskirts of Baghdad, in which nearly a full squadron of SBS operators, accompanied by some American commandos from a Tier 1 unit specializing in signals intelligence, went after the Iraqi Army's underground fiber-optics communications network. Saddam had used the network to communicate with his mobile SCUD launchers in the desert.Ferried in by two special-operations Chinook helicopters, the joint commando force spent close to two hours on the ground digging for the cables. With dawn approaching, the operators managed to locate the cables and rig them with explosives, destroying them and frustrating Saddam's communication with his most dangerous weapons.<h2>US Navy SEALs</h2><div type="image" title="Navy SEAL Chinook helicopter Gulf War Desert Storm" height="2956" width="1941" msid="81175659" hostid="261"></div>Navy SEALs conducted special reconnaissance operations along the Iraqi and Kuwaiti coasts to gather intelligence on Iraqi moves.In the first hours of the ground war, SEALs conducted diversionary raids on the coast to fool the Iraqis into thinking that a large-scale amphibious operation was coming. The diversion - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-us-navy-used-battleships-in-combat-for-nearly-century-2020-12" target="_top">bolstered by the presence of US battleships</a> - worked, allowing Coalition ground troops to arrive from the desert in the opposite direction and overwhelm the Iraqis.SEALs conducted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-special-operations-vbss-daring-way-to-storm-enemy-ships-2021-1" target="_top">Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) operations</a> in the Persian Gulf, often assaulting suspicious ships, and a SEAL element from SEAL Team Two went ashore to destroy a Tomahawk missile that had failed to detonate in order to prevent the Iraqis from getting the technology.A SEAL platoon was also one of the first US units to enter Kuwait City during its liberation.<h2>US <keyword id="530923" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Army-Rangers">Army Rangers</keyword></h2>A battalion of Rangers was sent to Saudi Arabia as a quick-reaction force for the Tier 1 units.The Rangers were also to assist Delta Force if it mounted a hostage-rescue operation in Iraq or Kuwait to free any of the hundreds of Westerners who Saddam captured in during the invasion and held as human shields.Rangers also conducted a raid against a telecommunications tower near the Jordanian-Iraqi border, destroying it and capturing several prisoners.<h2>US Air Force Commandos</h2><div type="image" title="Air Force Pararescueman pilot Gulf War" height="1274" width="1754" msid="81175662" hostid="261"></div>Air Commandos don't usually get as much publicity as their sister-service comrades because more often than not Pararescuemen, Combat Controllers, Special Operations Weather Technicians (now Special Reconnaissance operators), and Tactical Air Control Party airmen are attached to other special-operations units as individuals.During Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Air Commandos mainly saw action alongside Delta operators <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-force-sas-hunted-iraqi-scud-missiles-during-gulf-war-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in the hunt for the SCUD missiles</a>. But they also did some traditional Air Commando tasks.A Pararescue element conducted the first rescue operation of the war on January 21, 1991, after a Navy F-14 Tomcat was shot down in Iraq. A special-operations MH-53J Pave Low helicopter carried the team behind enemy lines to save the pilot, though the F-14's radar officer was captured.But not all missions went well. During the Battle of Khafji, in a Saudi city close to Kuwait's border, an AC-130H Spectre gunship was shot down by an Iraqi portable surface-to-air missile, killing its 14-man crew-the largest loss of life in a single incident in Air Force Special Operations Command's history.Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (National Service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.

How US special-operations forces helped the US military win its first post-Cold War victory

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">DoD</div></div></div>WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2017 - National Guard and active duty service members are making a huge difference in the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, saving thousands and preparing for recovery efforts, <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Department officials said here today. Service members are bringing capabilities to the rescue effort that is still ongoing. The priorities for the Harvey effort are lifesaving, housing and feeding refugees, power restoration, law enforcement, health care and medical support.Texas National Guard rescued 3,801 personnel and assisted thousands more. Guard search and rescue assets include 244 high-water vehicles, 271 Humvees, 22 wreckers, 23 fuelers, 30 Blackhawk helicopters, four Chinook choppers and 16 boats.Relief Efforts ContinueActive duty service members have rescued 1,234 people. <a href="http://www.northcom.mil/">U.S. Northern Command</a> has deployed 100 high-water vehicles to Katy, Texas. The command has also sent 73 helicopters, three C-130 Hercules aircraft and eight pararescue teams to the region.The U.S. Coast Guard has 42 helicopters and seven fixed-wing aircraft conducting missions. The service has also deployed 65 shallow-water rescue boats to help conduct block-by-block rescue efforts. More than 4,700 people have been rescued/assisted by air and shallow-water boats.Texas currently has 5,209 National Guardsmen on duty, and that number is expected to gradually grow to 12,000. On the active duty side, about 6,300 service members have been deployed with another 1,100 alerted for movement.Airlifters are flowing to the area including seven C-17s from Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, and two C-5 Galaxy airlifters at El Paso, Texas.Medical facilities in Houston and the surrounding area have been hit by flooding. Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio is providing treatment for victims. Texas also asked for the DoD Disaster Aeromedical Staging Facility to deploy to George H. W. Bush International Airport in Houston. The facility has already started seeing patients. Supplies, Fuel, WaterThe Defense Logistics Agency is flooding the area in a good way -- with supplies, potable water, generators to bring power grids back up, aviation and vehicle fuel, and with millions of meals for victims.The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting air and ground post-storm assessments and harbor surveys in coordination with interagency partners. Two dredges are on standby, with two corps dredges in ready reserve.The Navy has dispatched the USS Kearsarge and USS Oak Hill - amphibious ships that are transporting members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit -- that should arrive off Texas Sept. 6.(Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews) <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tell-solar-eclipse-ruined-vision-permanent-damage-2017-8">Here's how to tell if the solar eclipse ruined your vision</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Here's what the US military has done so far to help victims of Hurricane Harvey

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Emil Mikhailov, founder of XIX, a computer vision startup, and Nic McKinley, founder of Deliver Fund, a nonprofit started by an ex-CIA agent, have teamed up to use AI to fight human trafficking.</li><li>Deliver Fund uses XIX's technology to scan and analyze massive numbers of online images to identify and expose sex trafficking rings. The XIX platform looks for "signals" in the photos - visual elements that suggest a link to the illicit sex trade.</li><li>"Human traffickers oftentimes will brand their victims as property," McKinley, who has been dubbed "the Real Jack Ryan" in a documentary, told Business Insider.</li><li>Deliver Fund will use XIX's platform while working with law enforcement agencies in the upcoming Super Bowl weekend in Miami. The Super Bowl typically leads to an uptick in sex trafficking activity in the city where it is to be held, creating opportunities for law enforcers to identify them.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories.</a></li></ul>One is ex-CIA, dubbed the 'real Jack Ryan, who's looking to stamp out modern-day slavery. The other, a tech entrepreneur from Moscow who hopes to deploy AI for noble causes.Nic McKinley, founder and CEO of Deliver Fund, a Dallas nonprofit dedicated to fighting human trafficking, and Emil Mikhailov, founder and CEO of XIX, a San Francisco AI computer vision startup, have teamed up for an unconventional use of artificial intelligence: battling human trafficking.McKinley's exploits as a CIA field agent were highlighted in a 2018 Vice News documentary which dubbed him <a href="https://vimeo.com/298979060">"The Real Jack Ryan,"</a> referring to the fictional CIA analyst and operative in a popular TV series. (He says "the real Jack Ryan character doesn't exist, because you're either an operative or an analyst. You're not both.")Deliver Fund uses XIX's AI-powered software to gather intelligence on criminal rings in a $100 billion global industry that coerces people to work in the illicit sex trade or other forms of forced labor. The partnership underscores how AI, now known mainly either as a powerful business tool or an Orwellian weapon against dissidents, is also being deployed by startups and advocacy groups against crime and exploitation. In fact, Deliver Fund, working with law enforcers and using the XIX's platform, is gearing up for an event that's known to spark an uptick in sex trafficking: The Super Bowl, slated to be held on Feb. 2 in Miami."We're taking all the skills that we've learned in the fight against terrorism and applying that to the fight against human trafficking here in the United States," McKinley told Business Insider.For Mikhailov, sharing the XIX technology with McKinley's team is not about making money. "We don't sell it to Deliver Fund," he said. "We do it for free."<h2>Using AI to scan trafficking images</h2>They're also applying XIX's AI-powered platform, which is able to quickly scan and analyze information on the web, specifically photos and images posted on social networks, porn and other sites where traffickers are known to look for customers."Those are very explicit imagery," Mikhailov told Business Insider. The XIX platform, he said, scans for "signals," or visual elements on images that are known to be associated with trafficking."Human trafficking has its own featured signals, meaning specific attributes," he said.McKinley cited one example, tattoos."Human traffickers oftentimes will brand their victims as property," he said. "If you have a victim who has, say, a tattoo of a clown on her face and her trafficker's name tattooed right underneath it, we'll have the algorithm that can go out and find every other photo within the system that has that clown on it."Deliver Fund shares the information they collect through the XIX platform and other methods with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Their efforts have led to some dramatic successes. In 2018, they helped rescue a young woman in the southwest who was betrayed by a boyfriend by turning her over to a sex trafficker, who subjected her to horrific abuse. The girl escaped and went to the police who sought Deliver Fund's help in hunting down her traffickers. With the help of the XIX platform, Deliver Fund found them in days."A few days later, a SWAT team kicked in his front door and arrested him and freed the other girls that were in his custody," McKinley said.<h2>A 'centralized brain' to fight human trafficking</h2>A former CIA special agent and US Air Force pararescue instructor, McKinley said he launched Deliver Fund in 2014 after realizing a huge gap in the federal government's capabilities in fighting trafficking, McKinley said. While there's a federal agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), dedicated to fighting the illicit use and sale of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, which are legal commodities, no such infrastructure exists to fight a worse, and totally illegal activity, human trafficking, he said. "We have an entire government bureaucracy around fighting the illicit use and sale" of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, McKinley said. "You know, 100% of human trafficking is illegal, yet we don't have a single centralized brain for fighting the issue."He started Deliver Fund with other veterans of the military and intelligence services, including the Navy SEALs and the National Security Agency. "We equip, train and advise law enforcement and regulatory authorities for their fight against human trafficking," he said. "We're able to do that because most of us are coming from an intelligence background."<h2>'Okay, there's something new here'</h2>The Vice documentary on McKinley mentioned Deliver Fund's work which caught Mikhailov's attention. He was intrigued, thinking, "This is a very important problem to work on, interesting from a technological perspective."He emailed McKinley who quickly became impressed with XIX's technology. "I get hit up by companies routinely wanting us to use their technologies," he said. "I saw what he was actually doing. I was like, 'Okay, there's something new here that I haven't seen before that we actually desperately need."What was new was XIX's ability to analyze fast and on a massive scale images associated with sex trafficking. "They had cracked the nut on data collection and computer visualization coming through on the same platform," he said. "That was something we really needed."The XIX platform was particularly effective in analyzing online advertisements for purportedly legal services, such as massages or escorts and sex chats, but which sex traffickers use to find customers. "At the end of the day, the commercial sex advertisement is a starting point," he said. "It's not enough just to look at a commercial sex advertisement and and say, 'I believe this is human trafficking.' When you can start connecting those advertisements with other data coming out of social media or other databases, that's the true magic."Other tools are able make those connections using text-based AI, he said. "But if you have a trafficker on Instagram, and he's just posting an Instagram photo, and there's no text, well, that becomes irrelevant data to those other platforms."He said Mikhailov's team figured out how to "pull metadata that we'd never seen anybody pulling before and be able to use their algorithms to connect advertisements that we'd never seen anybody able to connect before."Deliver Fund has also tried other tools that rely only on facial recognition technology, which is now commonly used by some law enforcement agencies in the search for known victims, McKinley said. But "a lot of the human trafficking victims have their faces covered or blurred out, because the traffickers are on to the fact that law enforcement is using facial recognition," he said. "Facial recognition doesn't work in those instances."Because it's able to analyze more elements of an image beyond a person's face, the XIX platform has proven to be a more powerful tool, giving Deliver Fund the ability to "pull other things out and connect them across platforms."<h2>Sex trafficking at the Super Bowl</h2>The XIX platform has proven to be a critical tool in what has turned into an annual major anti-trafficking operation. As fans of the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs gear up for Super Bowl LIV in Miami, McKinley's team will be working with law enforcement agencies, to take on a loathsome fallout from the yearly football showdown: sex trafficking."Wherever a Super Bowl or a large sporting event in particular is being held, it attracts a large number of people who are there for something more than the event itself," McKinley said.He used a military analogy to explain why the Super Bowl is an opportune time to target sex traffickers. "If you're in Afghanistan, and you have snipers on a hillside, you're not going to see them until they move, then that's when you see them. The Super Bowl is the incentive for these traffickers to move. And so it allows us to identify them."The Super Bowl anti-trafficking operations actually highlighted the effectiveness of the XIX platform. The startup was not involved in the 2018 Super Bowl operation in Minneapolis which led to the arrest or identification of about 40 traffickers, McKinley said. But XIX became part of the anti-trafficking operation's arsenal in the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta. The platform helped Deliver Fund and law enforcers identify and build cases on 50 sex traffickers. More importantly, they were able to do so faster and with fewer staff."That's the beauty of the XIX platform, is it reduces the man-hours needed to build one of these cases," McKinley said.Ultimately, operations similar to the ones conducted in connection with the Super Bowl are just a small part of a bigger and longer campaign, McKinley said. <h2>The business of human trafficking </h2>Human trafficking, which rakes in about $100 billion to $150 billion a year according to some estimates, is such a huge, global problem that it cannot be solved just by taking down individual traffickers."We are not going to arrest our way out of this problem," he said. To have a meaningful impact, he said, they need to focus on the tools and institutions used by the traffickers, such as banks and hotel chains.Major human trafficking rings typically rely on banks and hotels to operate. Greg Switzer, vice president of Deliver Fund's commercial operations, said the organizations is also working with and sharing information on confirmed human trafficking groups with major financial institutions and hotels that may be inadvertently offering services to criminal organizations."They may be looking for a tool that meets some regulatory compliance needs," he told Business Insider. "They may want to protect their company from brand damage once association is made with their products and services involved with human trafficking."McKinley said Deliver Fund has helped open money laundering investigations on 20 suspected human trafficking organizations."The way that we're going to solve this problem," he said, is to "permanently disrupt this market.""If a human trafficker can't rent a hotel room, if they can't rent a car, if they can't open a bank account, then you know how difficult we just made it for them to make money," McKinley said. For Mikhailov, working with Deliver Fund, while not a money-making partnership, has been valuable in terms of developing its technology and defining the startup's direction.Working with McKinley's team has given his team an opportunity to develop XIX's computer vision technology based on a real-world dynamic application. The startup, which has raised $2 million from angel investors, aims to be a leading AI-powered computer vision platform. One of their first investors is Arjun Bansal, founder of the AI startup Nervana, which was acquired by Intel in 2016 and who recently launched a new AI startup, XOKind. "Purely from a social good aspect, that's amazing what they're doing," Bansal told Business Insider. "I'm really happy as an investor to support that kind of work. With this product, it's always about keeping yourself open to finding where the product market fit is going to happen. So I think that continuing to explore that in a bunch of different domains and I think the outcome that they've seen with this engagement is really, really great."XIX does have paying clients. One is a company that uses the tool to filter out "not-safe-for-work" images on its site. Another client is a fintech company that uses the tool to verify account holders to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.<h2>AI for social good</h2>XIX is a rare example of a startup deploying AI for social causes. Another is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hatebase-helps-tiktok-battle-hate-speech-2019-12">Hatebase, a Toronto-based startup which uses AI to monitor hate speech</a> online, which has been used by the Sentinel Project, a nonprofit to assist vulnerable communities that are potential targets of violence and genocide. In 2017, the Sentinel Project, which is based in Canada, used other tools, including a heat map, to monitor false reports that a gang was about to attack some slum communities in Kenya.Working with McKinley's team also speaks to how Mikhailove hopes to build XIX as an AI company. AI has also been used by federal agencies, such as ICE, or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to hunt down undocumented immigrants and refugees. Mikhailov said it's an area that his startup hopes to avoid. "It's not something that we feel comfortable with," he said.Mikhailov also hopes XIX can go beyond the typical business uses of AI is now commonly deployed to generate leads or sales faster and more effectively.XIX is aiming higher, Mikhailov said. His big hope for XIX, he said, is to "actually build a metric that translates to saving lives."Got a tip about XIX or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at bpimentel@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/benpimentel">@benpimentel</a> or send him a secure message through Signal at (510) 731-8429. You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.

Here's how an ex-CIA officer and a tech entrepreneur are using AI to hunt sex traffickers on Super Bowl Sunday

<div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="Wikimedia Commons" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/511e76d56bb3f7bb6c000002-960/mq-9reaperrefuelling-080619-f-2907c-758-3.jpg"></a></div><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MQ-9_Reaper_refuelling_-_080619-F-2907C-758.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></div>The new Distinguished Warfare Medal signals two things — the <keyword id="94769" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="drones">drones</keyword> are here to stay, and sitting in an easy chair and pushing a button is quite literally valued above the battlefield valor of <keyword id="6359526" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Military">military</keyword> heroes.
Mainly for drone operators and personnel who initiate cyber attacks against enemy networks, the new medal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22V%22_Device">will be awarded to servicemembers</a> that demonstrate "extraordinary achievement" related to military operations after 9/11, according to an <a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/DistinguishedWarfareMedalMemo.pdf" target="_blank">official memo.</a> In the ranking of <keyword id="6360366" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="awards">awards</keyword>, the DWM will be above a Bronze Star, but lower than a Silver Star — the nation's third-highest award.
For context, here is one excerpt from a Bronze Star award citation out of Afghanistan:
"<a href="http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=69778" target="_blank">As Staff Sergeant Castellanos</a> returned to his vehicle, his rifle ran out of ammunition. Staff Sergeant Castellanos removed his M9 pistol and eliminated an enemy fighter that was advancing on him less than 10 meters away."
<a href="http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=95125" target="_blank">And another:</a>
"With complete disregard for his safety, Sergeant Dicken immediately requested his Pararescue team be inserted near the un-secured crash site to start treating survivors as real-time intelligence indicated insurgents were moving to attack his aircraft. Sergeant Dicken quickly established security around the burning aircraft and while searching for survivors, he located three, all with life threatening injures and one trapped in his seat with fire burning towards him. Sergeant Dicken began efforts to free the trapped patient as ammunition and flares on board the helicopter ignited."
As far as awards go in the military, a Bronze Star is many times a solid achievement, indicating a level of proficiency that shows a servicemember going above and beyond in their duties. When its given for combat action — which citations often phrase as "heroic achievement in ground combat operations" — it comes along with a valor distinguishing device, called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22V%22_Device" target="_blank">"Combat V."</a> 
The big problem comes when an award can be earned, and held above awards like the two above, by someone often sitting far from the battlefield in an air-conditioned facility. 
And the Air Force <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_Air_Force" target="_blank">already has awards</a> lower in ranking than the Bronze Star, that still recognize "extraordinary achievement" — the Air Force Achievement Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.
Many combat veterans I spoke with are troubled by the recent announcement:
"As a Navy &amp; Marine Corps Achievement Medal (with Combat V) and Purple Heart recipient, this new medal is nothing more than a slap in the face for my troubles," Eddie Hoffmann, a Marine infantryman who was wounded in Iraq, told Business Insider. "There is a measure of pride that is associated with earning certain awards and recognizing service-members sitting behind a computer screen in a controlled environment over those who are putting their lives on the line daily on the front lines is a travesty. This will do nothing more than negatively impact what little morale is still present in deployed units."
"As a Bronze Star (with V) and Purple Heart Recipient who lost his leg, this is spitting in my face," said Gunnery Sergeant Dave Boire, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.
But there is plenty of grumbling within the Air Force, the service with the most members that would benefit from the move.
"I understand the [movement] with unmanned drones, computers, and electronic warfare and this is an intent to legitimize that," one Airman told Business Insider, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But it shouldn't be on that tier."
"Congratulations, you're expert level of the Microsoft Flight Simulator," he added, only half-jokingly.
Another Airman told Business Insider about the hardships of long overseas deployments: "There are guys out there for months and years at a time. They [drone pilots] are contributing to the overall strategy, but they are not over there."
The <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/pain-continues-after-war-for-american-drone-pilot-a-872726.html" target="_blank">U.S. military guides its drones</a> from seven air bases in the United States, as well as several locations abroad, including one in the East African nation of Djibouti.
"When you put it up there with the Bronze Star, you are recognizing a person with facing adversity and hardship. You're placing them up there with folks like <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CDIQqQIwAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fchris-kyles-funeral-procession-2013-2&amp;ei=yW4eUeTCAaaJ0QHO0oCoBw&amp;usg=AFQjCNHMaSaJ4gSfIsQ12AnpZNZ7KbOMgQ&amp;bvm=bv.42553238,d.dmg" target="_blank">Chris Kyle</a> and Marcus Luttrell (both highly decorated Navy SEALs)," one told me, "and they shouldn't even be in the same league."
Still, there are some who defend the move.
"A pilot is a pilot, whether they are physically or remotely flying an aircraft. They are still serving their country proudly and defending the Constitution of the United States. It is a very limited, select few that can even be considered and qualify to become a pilot, let alone go through the necessary training," said Nicholas Albino, an Airman with over ten years of service. "Before criticizing drone pilots, one should become educated on what they actually do before judging. I support any awards for drone pilots," although Albino later conceded that they should be ranked and structured around how big a sacrifice they made.
"We are much more likely to be recipients of this award than others, and I think it is a horrible idea. The type of actions that it proposes to recognize are already recognized by service Achievement and Commendation medals. New medals are not what we need in the service right now," An active-duty enlisted sailor who <a href="http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ceninfodom/" target="_blank">works in Cyber Warfare</a>, told Business Insider. "The ones we have cover the spectrum of martial achievement and sacrifice, and to shoehorn this in between two of the highest awards is a travesty, and a dishonoring of those who have achieved any military award."
The issue is summed up quite well by Nick Palmisciano, <a href="http://www.rangerup.com" target="_blank">CEO of Ranger Up</a>:
"Drone pilots absolutely deserve to be awarded for exemplary achievement. I have no issue with them receiving a medal specific to their job," the former Army Captain told Business Insider. "That being said, there can be no valor without danger, and a drone pilot faces no danger, only stress. Placing such an award above the Bronze Star is pure comedy and just juxtaposes the stark differences between views of the Pentagon Leadership compared to those who are actually doing the job. I'd suspect drone pilots don't even want the award with such a high order or precedence. In such a position it will constitute a personal embarrassment for the recipient and a standing joke for the rest of the military. Keep the award. Change the position."

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