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John Worthley
Professor Miles
ENGL137H
November 3, 2014
Americans Paradigm Shift on Drone Usage in the Military and Back at Home
It has the power to kill, the power to transport medicines to a disaster, and the
power to watch your every move in your very own backyard. It can save your life and kill
you at the same time. What can provide such versatility? Unmanned aerial vehicles,
more commonly known as drones, are able to do all of this and more. These pilotless
machines were once glorified for their capabilities, but they are now viewed with a
cautious stance. Yes, drones were once cherished as machines that could be used for
good. However, more and more Americans including military personal, politicians, and
other American civilians are now noticing that they are also creating altercations not
thought possible before. Instead of solely viewed as tools for advantageous uses,
drones are now increasingly being viewed as dangerous in the military world and the
domestic neighborhood. Today, drones are viewed unfavorably because they kill
innocent civilians and invade privacy at home. The considerable amount of damage
caused by drones has led to an increase in the number of Americans calling for
widespread regulations to change drone usage in the military and at home.
Military drone history can be traced to before the Wright Brothers 1902 first flight
glider. Drones have proved to be capable machines of war ever since the Confederate
and Union forces used balloons for bombings and reconnaissance in the Civil War. Of
course, the drones of Lincolns time are not the same drones used today, disregarding
the occasional hobbyist using a pilotless balloon. Back then drones were unreliable

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pieces of equipment that were more intriguing than functional. However, drones have
gained greater respect ever since adopting radio signals and other advanced
technology starting in the 1990s (Billiterri, 2014). The predator drone and its hellfire
laser-guided missiles have become a powerful, yet destructive weapon of war in recent
years. Some of its technology is so advanced that Americans dont even know about it
because of the U.S. governments ability to proactively shroud its technological secrets
for the sake of keeping the technology out of enemy minds. Thats the reason why the
U.S. government felt a setback when Iran captured a fallen drone flying in Iranian
airspace.
Americans worshipped drones as soon as they were heavily incorporated into the
Air Force in the 1990s (Billitteri, 2014). Back then, many Americans saw the proliferation
of aerial dominance as something positive. Americans felt especially optimistic because
air superiority could be maintained while removing the risk of pilot deaths. Drones could
launch aerial strikes as a force multiplier for the engaged American intelligence and
military communities. While older strategies such as ground forces and manned
aircrafts could quickly locate and eradicate targets on the ground, drones could do so
even quicker. Vulnerable military resources on the ground could be bypassed putting
less people in harms way. Americans were assured that drones could only assist the
war effort.
Americans purely exalted drones as the ultimate war machine in the 1990s, yet
they carefully treated drones as unstable weapons during the years after 9/11. The
drones were heavily put to the test after the 9/11 attacks during which they were relied
heavily upon to search for and destroy high-value terrorist targets in countries such as

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Yemen (Billitteri, 2014). This was the chance to assess whether drones were able to aid
in the war effort. Unfortunately, overlooked problems blurred successful airstrikes. Even
though drones could now smite high profile terrorists from thin air in a moments notice,
not everyone struck down was an enemy. Many civilians were killed because they were
mistaken for terrorists. This led policy experts and other concerned citizens to question
the ethicalness of predator drone strikes. The terrorist attacks accelerated drone
blueprint designs in an effort to push the newly developed drones into the air as soon as
possible. The period of optimism is over and many Americans have realized the drone
may not be as great as it was set out to be. Todays drones suffer from frequent
computer malfunctions, system glitches, and human error ultimately leading to the
deaths of many non-terrorists (Billitteri, 2014). All these fatal contributions forced former
drone enthusiasts to form negative perspectives surrounding the initial ways drones
aided U.S. military efforts and inspired them to construct refined counterterrorism
strategies (Karam, 2013). Americans are now only enabling drones to engage targets
under strict circumstances leaving little room for flaws. Before, there was trust in the
new drone technology allowing them to roam the skies freely looking for targets. Now, it
has to be clear that drone strikes will only occur on definite individuals rather than on
individuals that merely look like the target. If the drone is not 100 percent certain, it will
not engage a target. Americans have become very conscientious with these threatening
machines rather than confident and assured with the obscured vision that drones could
save the world without significant complications. Drones are now viewed as volatile
weapons that require taming before they could begin saving the world. Many Americans
from a variety of backgrounds now acknowledge that the bugs and flaws in drones need

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to be worked out before making them controversial war assassins. It isnt only military
personnel that think this. Many other Americans including politicians, the white house
administration, policy experts, and even ordinary civilians are bonded together in
thought.
Although drones have been used in the military for over a century, they are also
arising in American neighborhoods back at home. As more and more consumers
purchase drones they are arriving in neighborhoods all across America. By 2015, the
Federal Aviation Administration will implement regulations that will define what personal
drones can do in American airspace. But for now, drone are loosely controlled by the
government, making room for American consumers to creatively use drones freely. The
consumer market is growing so rapidly that experts predict $10 billion a year will be
generated in nationwide income by 2025 (McGlynn, 2013).
At first, Americans celebrated domestic drones for their ability to work for the
public good. Domestic drones could serve in a variety of civilian peacekeeping forces.
For example, drones can assess the scope of fire in firefighting units, patrol crime
ridden roads for police units, and monitor threatening weather storms. Drones may even
be able to fly groceries, mail, and lattes to customers in record times (Ballve, 2014). The
possibilities of domestic applications excited Americans and gave access to the skies
without having to own any expensive planes or high-maintenance helicopters. A drone
can now be bought for around $100 and offer a camera mount so that the user can
even control the drone from out of sight.
Despite all the positive commotion, domestic drones have their fallbacks which
have caused Americans to keep a wary eye on todays domestic drone craze.

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Specifically, drones are invading Americans personal privacy in new innovative ways.
Drones can spy inside a home through every window because of their maneuverability.
And this spying is legal as long as the victim has a reasonable expectation of privacy
(McGlynn, 2013). Whereas Americans were initially enthusiastic about seemingly
guiltless society-benefiting drones before, they now are experiencing the setbacks
affecting privacy. Privacy concerns widen as the government will be able to amass
information on U.S. citizens (McGlynn, 2013). That data will then be linked to private
and government companies that could injure Americans lives in the unforeseen future.
Realizations such as these have outraged Americans, leaving them with unfavorable
outlooks for the future of domestic drones.
Americans wont have a more favorable view towards drones until a new set of
regulations limit the endless capabilities drones currently present. In the military, drones
must be given clear objectives to prevent any harmless civilians from dying in the
search of terrorist targets. Domestically, drones must be limited with laws that will
hopefully come into effect in 2015. Perchance, packages will be delivered by drones
made by companies like Amazon one day without violations of privacy and drones will
someday assassinate targets with a zero-mortality rate for civilians.

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Works Cited
Ballve, Marcelo. "COMMERCIAL DRONES: Assessing The Potential For A New DronePowered Economy."Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 01 Nov. 2014. Web. 01 Nov.
2014.
Billitteri, Thomas J. "Drone Warfare." CQ Researcher 6 Aug. 2010: 653-76. Web. 2 Nov.
2014.
Karam, Joseph T., and David H. Gray. "The Impact of CIA Drone Strikes and the Shifting
Paradigm of U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy." Global Security Studies 4.3 (2013): n.
pag. Web.
McGlynn, Daniel. "Domestic Drones." CQ Researcher 18 Oct. 2013: 885-908. Web. 1
Nov. 2014.