COLUMBIA (WACH) -- Shaw Air Force Base may be in line to receive a new eye in the sky if the Air Force chooses the Columbia base to station a ground control squadron for its remote-controlled Reaper and Predator drones.
The Air Force says the move would put at least 280 men and women at the chosen site, but not the MQ-1/9 aircraft.
Drones have become key to intelligence and war operations. Acting as potential hunter-killers, they can hover for hours over targets. Since they're unmanned, the drones don't place pilots in harm's way.
Air Force officials say they're also looking at sites in Arizona and Hawaii.
The Air Force says it will announce a preferred location in December.
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