NATCHITOCHES – Unmanned drones play an increasingly significant role in military operations and Northwestern State University’s ARGO (Advanced Remote and Geospatial Operations) Lab recently provided training to a group of Fort Polk soldiers seeking to learn the basics of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations.
“We’re taking participants from the basics of drones, particularly multirotor quadcopters, up through operations, maintenance and applications where you get a full a full view of what actual utilization looks like,” said JD Cox, director of NSU’s ARGO Lab. The training was offered in partnership with NSU’s Office of Economic Development and Advancement.
“The term we use is ‘wave of the present,’” Cox said. “There are major initiatives for every person in the military to be a proficient drone operator, so we’re hoping to be a part of helping achieve that goal by providing some of the entry level training.”
A few of the soldiers had experience with drones in surveillance and monitoring but most were seeking more in-depth knowledge of operations and capabilities.
“We’re learning more about the drone capabilities, what they’re able to do and how we can implement these in real life scenarios,” said SPC Kevin Ruiz with 3rd Brigade 10th Mountain Division (3/10th MTN). “We are improving more of our skills implementing these technologies.”
Ruiz said the drones can be used for reconnaissance and scanning areas to provide visuals in the field and provide experience that could open up more job opportunities.
“Overall great first program,” said Mark Leslie, director of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security at Fort Polk. “I appreciate the effort that JD and staff put into developing the program. It was well thought out, developed and executed. The parallels of what the civilian drone world does and what the military’s UAS world executes were quite amazing.”
NSU’s ARGO Lab has emerged as a leader in drone education in the region, offering courses to law enforcement agencies, industry and civilians seeking Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification, which Leslie said would be beneficial for soldiers in future training sessions.
“I think one of the most valuable periods of instructions was mission planning,” Leslie said. “I would expand on this and consider tailoring it to the capabilities and limitations of their platform, as well as adding a practical exercise for this with a platform that is in the NSU inventory as an additional PE.”
“It’s just a great opportunity for us to partner with our neighbors over at Fort Polk and bring them in for training and information and show these guys some of the opportunities that we have for education outside of this,” Cox said. “Any amount of information we can put out there on how to use drones in the modern world I think it’s beneficial.”
Cox and his team began the training with an introduction to the drones, their different classifications and multi-rotor systems, sensors and batteries before practicing flight operations. The workshop also covered aviation weather, aeronautical decision making and crew roles and responsibilities. The soldiers also practiced flight planning and mission execution, advanced sensors operations, assembly and disassembly of larger multi-rotor systems.
“This was a great training opportunity for the soldiers of Fort Polk to train with the ARGO professional at NSU. The parallels of what NSU does and the Army does, especially in the realm of mission planning was eye opening and especially useful,” Leslie said. “We at Fort Polk are grateful for this partnership and look forward to exploring more opportunities to share experiences and training with our friends at NSU. This level of academia is important to combine with the real world ‘on the ground’ experience the warfighter has to make the best possible and most prepared drone operators our Army can produce. I think this training is the first step towards that. We look forward to and long and continued partnership with NSU.”
NSU’s ARGO Lab recently offered a two-day training at the university’s Alexandria campus and will offer another April 25-26 at the Leesville/Fort Polk campus, 3329 University Parkway, Leesville. The cost is $250 per session. The FAA Remote Pilot Certification Exam is administered at an approved testing center and is not included in the course fee. Registration is available at https://commerce.cashnet.com/ARGO .