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When the commander needs an aircraft, you can bet a Soldier from the maintenance shop will be eagerly standing by to ensure he or she gets it. Unfortunately, sometimes this on-demand convenience leads to Soldiers moving around aircraft quicker than they usually would.
In his ancient military treatise "The Art of War," Sun Tzu notes that if you put your army on a forced march at a certain speed, you will lose one-tenth to two-thirds of your troops along the way.
Shortly after the co-pilot told me he sometimes got airsick, he went from bad to worse. He had to vomit, so I told him to go to the back of the airplane.
If you are ever executing similar missions, or encounter unexpected circumstances on a range or mission, take the time to plan and mitigate risk. A little patience and forethought will go a long way.
Unmanned aircraft have many built-in procedural safety checks similar to manned aviation, such as system limitations, environmental factors and airspace deconfliction methods. These procedures are in place to ensure the safety of the aircraft and aircrews operating in the same area of operations.