The Digital Face of Airpower: Asymmetry, Artificial Intelligence and Intimate Combat in the Twenty-First Century United States Air Force

Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) operators have been at war for over twenty-years using unmanned aerial vehicles to kill combat enemies half-a-world away. Their emotional experiences provide an opportunity to examine intimacy in warfare which can be compared and contrasted with conventional pilots and traditional rifle-bearing ground troops. By comparing and contrasting specific emotions felt across various combat environments and technologies, it is possible to answer the question of whether or not RPA operators are legitimate warriors or legitimated assassins. The implementation of RPA operators in combat zones and the proliferation of unmanned technology on the battlefield open up new questions concerning the inevitable development, integration, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) across the battlespace. Societal fears reveal cultural values, and many of the same fears expressed over the introduction and implementation of RPAs are again being used against AI. This new military history examines war to try and discover answers to questions concerning RPA operators and the coming revolution in military affairs brought about by AI.

This thesis will provide a nuanced understanding of intimacy in warfare by complicating the factor of distance. Specifically, it challenges the conventional wisdom concerning the inverse relationship between intimacy and distance. RPA operators, especially in the US Air Force, are the furthest removed from the battlefield and are somehow experiencing increased emotional entanglement instead of detachment. There have been too few comprehensive studies of modern US Air Force combat experiences and the emotional impact felt by airmen. Pilots were studied in the Second World War and even into Vietnam, but since that time there has been little interest in understanding emotion, intimacy and war from the perspective of airmen. This is a mistake. Airmen, even in an asymmetric war zone, experience a wide range of emotions which offer clues to understanding war and society in a unique way. The intimate experiences of aviators also promise to provide insights into understanding the emergence of artificial intelligence and its proper implementation in warfare.