Beagle,
You raise a valid point re drone pilots and repercussions.
Something that I have raised in the past is the psychological effects that drone pilots may suffer from; that is the effects of actually fighting a war from "home". One minute you are protecting the troops on the ground, trying to stop them from being killed, or even watching them being shot, or bombing the enemy. The next minute you are on your way home to the wife and children. It takes a very special mindset to be able to change from killer to dad, or husband, every day for weeks and months on end.
At least many of the aircrew involved directly in doing the same in your traditional aircraft are based in the war zone, or aircraft carriers, where there are many people in the same situation.
Also remember, when you were flying that VC10 (I am envious of you) that you were stuck in a tube looking out of them windows. A drone pilot/ team also have windows, of a sort. They are the cameras through which you see things - like the enemy, or the friendly forces you are protecting.