UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are becoming more and more common in recent years as their unique uses become apparent and the technology becomes more affordable. The military was the first to utilize this technology (as early as World War I) as it has great wartime potential. Reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, attack missions, and more are carried out by UAVs while keeping soldiers out of harms way. As a former soldier myself, I can appreciate and support any technology that keeps our soldiers safe. I view the implementation of UAVs in wartime scenarios to be very ethical as it can improve our soldiers combat awareness and save lives. The military, while perhaps not the most frugal of entities, has, in my opinion, not wasted a penny spent on UAV technology.
It was inevitable, though, that this technology would not remain exclusive to military use. As the technology becomes more affordable, more and more civilian uses are becoming practical. National Geographic did a good article entitled 5 Surprising Drone Uses (Besides Amazon Delivery) describing some non-military applications of UAVs already being implemented. These uses included hurricane hunting, 3-D mapping, protecting wildlife, search and rescue, and crop dusting. Due to the rapid increase of civilian UAV use, the FAA has had their hands full trying to keep up with the demand for regulations governing the use of UAVs. In response, they have drawn up plans to safely, and in a timely manner, integrate UAVs into the national airspace system (NAS). The FAA's integration plan has been named the UAS Roadmap.
Personally, I don't feel very threatened or scared of the UAV integration. I don't believe that the general public will be comfortable flying in an unmanned aircraft in my life time, so my prospective job is safe. My only concern might be visibility. While flying under visual flight rules (VFR) I often have a difficult time visually locating a small Cessna or Piper in the air, I can't imagine locating a UAV that is less than half the size of those planes would be very easy. To compensate for this potential hazard I would expect these aircraft to have sophisticated traffic monitoring and avoidance systems.
As with any new technology being implemented, jobs are being created. Operators, engineers, and repair technicians are just a few that come up on a quick internet search. Any business hoping to implement UAVs in their operations will require management with some aviation background. For a list of opportunities check out the links below:
http://www.indeed.com/q-Uav-jobs.html
http://www.planetechs.com/UAV-Jobs
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Jobs/Keyword/Uav/