TP455, the issue for me is who is responsible for the use of a weapon. The Guardsman is responsible to his military superiors for any use of his weapon; the pilot, as far as I can see, to nobody.
As a pax, I can tolerate being in the vicinity of weapons wielded by a properly constituted and trained (and, of course, friendly to me ;-)) military or police force: I am not comfortable being in the vicinity of weapons wielded by those who, in the last analysis, are answerable only to themselves.