Mike - your question goes right to the heart of why so many USAF RPA crews are starting to feel like the 'second XI' because they are limited in what medals they can get. The edition of JDW in question mentions it but it's currently on my desk at work, but IIRC, they are only eligible for things like campaign medals and aerial achievement medals - they can't qualify for the sexier ones like the DFC or Air Force Cross.
B Word - I think you will find inflation has bumped your RPA costs up somewhat. The DoD quoted price per unit for an MQ-9 Reaper is closer to $37,000,000 per platform - hence why we have so few of them. Based on that cost, they are far from expendible when the MOD is broke!