FORT DRUM, Ny. -The 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division hosted the second annual Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Symposium, on Fort Drum, New York, this week. This five-day event brought together many experts all across the Division and the UAS community to discuss many topics related to these systems.
The Symposium covered an array of different subjects like UAS operations, maintenance, aviation standardization and safety. This allowed the attendees, who were from across the Department of Defense, to participate in discussion panels, breakout groups and ideation sessions to discuss and deep dive into the UAS subjects to gain a deeper understanding.
The 10th Mountain Division was able to employ the simple concept of bringing together Army leaders, stakeholders, subject matter experts and partners within the industry to be able to find ways to help improve the Army’s UAS program. They were able to do this by being able to discuss their views to the current environment of processes, procedures and their training plans within the UAS community.
With guest speakers like retired Army Col. John F. Antal, with a 30-year career as an Amor and Calvary officer and retired Air Force Brig. Dr. Robert S. Spalding III, who served 26 years as a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and B-52 Stratofortress bomber pilot. They were able to offer their own experience and insight to the attendees of the Symposium.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Joshua Winkler, with the 10th CAB, took many weeks planning this event to reach its fullest potential for all participates to leave with ideas and motivation. “I think what makes this event different from others, and also so important for UAS, are the ideation sessions.” says Winkler, “These are discussions that flow into recommendations which are then implemented immediately into training and local SOPs to validate their efficacy, so we’re not only bringing together the best minds in their respective realms of expertise for briefs; we also bring them in as advisors.”
Mike Goodwin, Director of Global Military Strategy Air Systems, located in Huntsville, Alabama, was one of the 150 in-person attendees. Having worked in the UAS Military community since 2008, he believes this symposium as an essential asset for building the future. “Like myself, the aircraft manufacturers are getting to hear the problems and the good things firsthand,” says Goodwin. “It was invaluable for myself and my engineers to meet directly with soldiers and hear what the future holds so we know what the army will need in the future.”
Events like these allow the participates to take this information and this opportunity to make improvements immediately and having the knowledge base in the room that they do can help guide when they are at dead ends, states Winkler. Making solutions in the UAS community achievable that have been validated by the experts.
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