ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ghost of cowardice by questioning whether Reaper crews are as ‘protected’ and ‘risk free’ in their work and lives as they are generally portrayed. It argues that the masculinity of the Reaper crews is reinforced by the capacity to kill whilst at the same time destabilised by the inevitable moments when the crews fail to save lives or cause the death of civilians. The complexity of the personhood of Reaper crews is illuminated by the interaction between killing and saving lives, by the masculinity of killing and the masculinity of preventing death. The mythological hero worship of bodies at risk and death in warfare has created a complex environment in which Reaper crews negotiate their subjectivity given their comparative lack of physical risk in their experience of war. Killing is a core component of the identity of the warrior, and a primary marker of what it means to engage in warfare.
