Author Archives: Georgia Butcher

Georgia studies the impacts of drone warfare on drone personnel based in the U.S. She received her PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2024.
Two aircrafts are parked in a hangar with personnel standing nearby.

The MQ-9 Reaper Amid Environmental Crisis: Weapon of War or Humanitarian Tool?

On Saturday of Labor Day Weekend 2020, a situation was rapidly deteriorating north of Fresno, California. Sometime around 6pm on September 5, the Creek Fire started, gained momentum, and burned north (Gabbert 2020a). The fast-moving fire blocked the road from campgrounds in the area, stranding hundreds of campers visiting Mammoth Pool Reservoir. Quietly circling overhead was an MQ-9 Reaper, observing the apocalyptic looking situation. The sensors attached to the bottom of the MQ-9 Reaper could see through the billowing clouds of smoke. The California Air National Guard crew flying the MQ-9 was looking for something: a landing spot for evacuations (Solman 2020). (read more...)