Right now, tanker crews flying over theatre are awarded campaign medals despite having virtually no risk to themselves. I'd argue that a Reaper crew, firing weapons, taking out high-level enemies, and saving lives on a daily basis are contributing more to ops than a single daily VC10/Tristar AAR serial. Shouldn't they get some form of recognition?
I was amused by this comment, clearly you have no idea where the tankers were operating during the various conflicts they've been involved in over the years. I agree risk is low, we were more likely to have an air to air collision than be hit by enemy fire (or friendly forces missiles) but generally we were a few hundred miles closer to the the action than the F3. So where does that put your point of view?