Charlottesville Op-Ed: Drone Users "Playing God"?

In an opinion piece published August 5, in the Charlottesville Daily Progress, U.S. Army veteran and peace activist Evan Knappenberger said, "it is obvious to me that the allure of drones is that of playing God: the promise of omniscience and the lust of being able to hurl thunderbolts at anything and everything."

Knappenberger emphasizes the trauma associated with attacks -- such as those carried out by drones -- and makes the connection to the 9/11 attacks. "Are U.S. drone attacks, most of which are carried out from offices in Nevada and Northern Virginia, not the very embodiment of the terror which was inflicted upon the New Yorkers in 2001?" he asks.

Knappenberger is an Iraq war veteran and board member of the Charlottesville Center for Peace & Justice, as well as acting president of Veterans for Peace Chapter 962, Charlottesville. In his article, Knappenberger refers to the "RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle [drone] that haunted a year of my life in Taji, Iraq." (Read more about DoD basing plans for RQ-7 Shadow at Fort Pickett and Fort AP Hill in Virginia.)

For full article, see "The ethical problem that drone warfare poses" in The Daily Progress.

October: Know Drones Comes to Charlottesville

Know Drones will participate in a public education event about drones in Charlottesville in connection with the Southern Life conference to be held there in October 5-7. Know Drones will display a 1/5 actual size replica of a Reaper drone (8' length, 11' wingspan), elevated on a lifter, and include video displays showing various aspects of drone operations as well as simulation of drone targeting. [SEE INFORMATION ON DRONE REPLICAS BELOW.]


Additional details will be posted in the coming weeks.

For information, or to learn how you can get involved, email us at nodronesvirginia [at] gmail.com.

MORE ABOUT DRONE REPLICAS: Production proceeds on the drone replica for use during the Charlottesville event. Additional replicas are in production for use in New York State and Delaware. See also the report from No Drones Wisconsin about their recent protest activity at the Oshkosh Air Show, and the report about the drone replica being used by Robert Rast in Indiana to protest his son's killing by a drone strike.

Virginia Preparing Six Drone Bases?

According to the Department of Defense Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability (April 2012), Virginia has six (6) locations that have been designated as potential basing locations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) [i.e. drones] (p. 8 ff.).

The table below gives information on the types of drones that are proposed for basing at each location.

BASE	Predator/Reaper type	Shadow/Raven type	Other
Fort Story		RQ-11B	Wasp, Puma, Scan Eagle
Fort Eustis		RQ-11B
NALF Fentress		RQ-11B	Wasp, Puma, S-100
MCB Quantico		RQ-11B, RQ-21A	Wasp
Fort Pickett		RQ-11B, RQ-7B	Viking
Fort AP Hill		RQ-11B, RQ-7B

It is disclosed that the RQ-7B Shadow is operated from Fort A.P. Hill, under the status "Locations Requiring COAs [Certificate of Waiver or Authorization]". ("Locations where the Army currently conducts operations outside of Restricted Areas that require a COA from the FAA. In the majority of these locations, the purpose of the COA is to transition from the launch site to adjacent Restricted Areas. Additionally, the Raven can be operated using DoD-FAA agreed-to Class G airspace notification procedures for flights flown over Government-owned or -leased land." (p. 20))

How do people in Virginia feel about sharing their airspace with drones?