So pilots on both sides crashing as a result of over pushing in a dogfight, that's their own fault and not a combat death?
I'd say they're in combat, as they are actively engaging an enemy that is attempting to kill them, not shooting at an unpiloted bomb that isn't aimed at them.
bomb disposal guys working currently in Afghanistan and Iraq, if they get killed then they don't deserve to be recorded as a combat casualty, because they could have just let it be and allow it to kill someone else, the analagy is the same as the meteor pilots attacking or knocking v1's off course.
Are they disarming some 20 something year old ordnance from when Russia was fighting the Mujahdeen, or are they disarming some ordnance thats been wired up recently and placed with the intent to do harm to US forces in Afghanistan? Is the bomb out in the middle of the desert and posing no threat to anyone, or in the city and posing a threat to civilians and military personel. Did he try and defuse it, or did it blow up as he approached or was preparing to detonate it under a controled circumstance?
All of that matters. If it was intended for the russians, and no enemy tried to detonate it against the US soldiers, then you'd have to be an idiot to list it as a killed in combat. If its in the desert, and he just decides to disarm it for whatever reason and cuts the wrong wire, as opposed to blowing it up when it poses no threat to anyone, its not killed in combat.
If an enemy blew it up, then of course its a combat death. If it poses a threat to people, or might cause colateral damage, and he tries to disarm it, its still a combat death.
You are holding onto your failed argument for whatever reason, have you ever been in combat? Nevertheless you are quite obviously a troll, ill informed, and you offend me.
Oh and by the way, if you were to pay Hi Tech some money, for an account for example, it might carry more weight when you wish for something.
With all due respect, I really don't care that much if I've offended you. I don't know you, and you're getting pissed because I don't feel that any death in any way related to an enemy automatically counts as combat. I personally don't think that firing at a bomb not even aimed at you, and that poses ZERO threat to you as is counts as combat.
Was it in the line of duty? Yes. Should the pilots be recognized for it? Yes. Was it combat? Really, I don't feel it is.
If theres a block of C4 with a cable attached to the pin on the firing device, and the cable is attached to my house, its directly my fault I'm dead if I'm stupid enough to pull the string, not directly the fault of whoever attached the C-4 to my house. He's carrying the blame, but it wasn't
directly his fault. Not saying the Brits in the meteors were stupid for going after the Buzz bombs, but its a simmilar situation: I'm under potential threat, just like the meteor pilots, I'm not under actual threat (you could play football with a brick of C4 and it wouldn't go off), just like the meteor pilots, and my actions directly determine if I live or die, also like the meteor pilots.
Not all deaths result from combat, even if an enemy is involved. What if an enemy craps in a river, and a soldier drinks from it. He later comes down sick from drinking contaminated river water, and dies. Should he be listed as killed in combat? He wouldn't have died if the enemy hadn't defecated in the river. He didn't know he would die from drinking the water, and so there wasn't any choice made to sacrafice himself. That means the enemy is directly responsible for killing him, right?
So should he be listed as KIA?
What if an enemy puts a bunch of tacks on the road to interfere with trafic. A soldier goes out to help clear the road, and punctures his hand while picking up the tacks. He gets a staff infection and dies. He wouldn't have died if the enemy hadn't put the tacks on the road, so was he killed in combat?
Should he be listed as KIA?
Theres a difference between direct and indirect action, and that difference matters. Sometimes it can grow VERY sketchy, but the difference still matters.