National Guardsmen Train to Use Small Drones

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - National Guard Soldiers from various backgrounds, skillsets and military occupational specialties attending a 10-day small unmanned aircraft system operator course, or sUAS, are learning how to operate small drones.

The course, which began Feb. 19 and ends Feb. 28, is being conducted by the 166th Regiment - Regional Training Institute.

"It's been a great course," said Sgt. Stephen Scharf, a student from 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment. "It's a very evolving world, so there are a lot of new ideas coming out. A lot of things are changing very rapidly.

The course is structured to encourage students to adopt a tactical mindset and understand how the things they learn can be integrated into a large-scale combat operation, said Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Wahl, the sUAS operator course manager.

"One of my main goals here is to make it as realistic as we can," he said. "So, it's important for everyone to know how to operate one, because at any point you could be tasked with operating it."

Several members of the 111th Engineer Brigade, West Virginia National Guard, attended the course because their unit is deploying soon. They'll be using these drones on their deployment, Spc. Simon Bertram said.

"For infantry, it's very necessary for reconnaissance," Bertram said. "Getting more drone operators will be very beneficial."

Other attendees of the course came to learn a new skill. Scharf said the course has been very informative.

"It's an evolving world, and a lot of things are changing very rapidly," he said. "The instructors are doing their best to stay on top of it and disseminating that info."

Scharf mentioned that this course and the information it provides have been beneficial not just for himself but for the Army as a whole.

"It's something that as we develop this, more doctrine gets established," he said. "It's going to be something that you're going to see more widespread throughout both the Guard and the Army."

The course is open to National Guard members of all military occupational specialties.

"There are infantrymen here, some of them are engineers," Wahl said. "One of the students is an intel guy. There's all kinds of jobs that come through."

"All of these different jobs in the Army will be affected by sUAS's," Scharf said. "Sometimes that might be that you have to figure out how, which is a great thing."

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