US Army Specialist Benjamin Halbert recently said

If you can play Xbox, you can fly a Raven.

Unfortunately, that kind of attitude is ultimately how you run airplanes into each other.

The Raven is a rucked-in, hand-launched UAV with a four-foot wingspan.  Halbert’s point is probably that it is not complicated to fly — which is true.

But physically flying the UAV is only one part of the operation.  There are other things to consider, from sensor operations to traffic conflicts.  Those who operate UAVs need to be “aviators” in some context.  That doesn’t mean they need to be pilots, but they do need to understand the four-dimensional aspects of operating an airborne vehicle among others.

Playing Xbox no more prepares you to fly a real Raven in combat than it prepares you to drive a real car on the interstate or in New York City traffic.

The UAVs they operate may be “disposable” in some regard, but the airplanes they’re flying alongside — and the people inside them — aren’t.