"I'll be talking to a guy in Nevada who is flying that (UAS) plane from halfway around the world," he said with a hint of don't-ask-me-how-it-works incredulity in his voice.

Another major technological advancement, he pointed out, are GPS-guided monitors that make it possible to strike targets not only any time of day or night but in all sorts of weather conditions.

"Fifteen years ago you couldn't do that," he said. "Fighter pilots of this day are not nearly as at risk as fighter pilots used to be. We have very few losses, and we take pride in the fact we have very few losses."

The bottom line, said the fighter pilot, is that Americans should feel proud of their Air Force — fighter pilots certainly do.

But don't get complacent, he cautioned, because "everybody else is always catching up."

Before my time was up, and because Delmonte was in an agreeable question-answering mode, I had to ask him the question all Americans have in the back of their mind.

So I asked it.

"With all this technology, why can't we find Osama bin Laden?"

The veteran of 18 Iraqi deployments shot me a wry smile.

"That one is beyond my paygrade," he said.

But if the Air Force does find the terrorist, I got the impression the lieutenant colonel won't be all that surprised.

Lee Benson's column runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com