So everyone knows now that the military uses UAVs for actions in the Middle East. What isn’t as commonly known, is that the men and women who pilot the remote controlled aircraft do so from the relative comfort of a top secret facility in the Nevada desert. In some ways, it’s the ultimate video game.

It’s a bit surreal. A soldier assigned to the Reaper and Predator program may see combat at 2:00pm, and then go home at 5:30pm and stop for Taco Bell on the way home. Esquire managed to get some really excellent access at the site, and spent some time with the the people responsible for helping defend the ground troops in Afghanistan.