House Asks Where UAVs Belong

Yesterday the House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee held a hearing on the proposed fiscal 2008 budget. In particular, the hearing focused on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program and the issue of single control of the program under one service. Many issues of efficiency and effectiveness were discussed, leading to a request for answers in writing from the panel explaining how many service members are currently working within the UAV fields for each service and also a detailed response on how having the Air Force as the executive agency for UAVs would effect other services getting what they needed when they needed it. The question on the number of service members comes from a previous hearing where General Moseley stated that 75,000 airmen are performing jobs normally filled by the Army.

During this hearing Michigan Representative Candice Miller brought the importance of the National Guard’s role with UAVs to the committee’s attention, noting that the UAV has an important place in border security particularly within the National Guard.