Inaugural UAS course begins at Fort Indiantown Gap
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – The inaugural unmanned aircraft system military occupational specialty transition course began here recently.
The course, which began Oct. 19, combines two MOSs – UAS maintainer, or 15E, and UAS operator, or 15W – into one new MOS, known as tactical unmanned aircraft system specialist, or 15X.
“‘Whiskeys’ were UAS operators and ‘Echoes’ were UAS maintainers, and ‘X-ray,’ you do all of it,” said Sgt. 1st Class Brent Wehr, course manager.
The course is being conducted at the UAS Training and Innovation Facility, which underwent numerous upgrades in order to host the course. The Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site is providing oversight since the UAS TIF is not a schoolhouse.
Pennsylvania is one of two states, along with Mississippi, chosen to host the course for National Guard Soldiers. It is open to National Guard Soldiers from all 54 states and territories.
The first class has 12 students – eight from the Wisconsin National Guard and four from the Pennsylvania National Guard.
The course is seven weeks long. During the first two weeks, the students are separated by MOS, with 15Es learning 15W tasks and vice versa.
“Basically, ‘Echoes’ will learn stuff like air space, aviation weather, gunnery stuff, and ‘Whiskeys’ will learn electronics, soldering, maintenance, manuals and things like that,” Wehr said.
After the first two weeks, the students will be back together, and they’ll start learning what a 15X is, Wehr said. “You’re an operator, you’re a maintainer, you’re a trainer, you’re a fabricator,” Wehr said. “For those two weeks, they’ll learn how to use CAD (computer-aided design) programs, how to do 3D printing, survival of UAS missions, UAS capabilities.”
After that, there will be three weeks of tactical flight training and attack lanes.
“We want to teach them how to properly employ the UAS, not just here but their UAS at home, how to properly plan a mission, how to tactically maneuver through terrain, how to not just fly a UAS, but fly tactically and tactfully,” Wehr said.
The course will conclude with a culminating exercise.
A week in, the course is going smoothly, Wehr said.
“The students seem to enjoy it,” Wehr said. “The fun part comes when you go out to the lanes. It’s going to be the first time for some of them doing the tactical stuff.”
Spc. Andrew Hearsey of Mike Co., 56th Mobile Brigade Combat Team is one of the students in the class. Hearsey was previously a UAS maintainer, or 15E.
“I think it’s a great class,” Hearsey said. “There’s a lot of engaging, hands-on exercises, and the instruction is good.”
Hearsey, an Annville, Pennsylvania, native, said he was familiar with some of the things the course has covered so far, but the course also covering things he was not familiar with.
Given the proliferation of drones in warfare, Hearsey said this is an important course.
“It’s going to really be shaping the reconnaissance aspects and the front lines of the battlefield in the future,” Hearsey said.
Being part of the first class is exciting, Hearsey said.
“It’s neat to be part of this big change,” Hearsey said. “Nobody else will get this opportunity because there’s never going to be another first class.”
The course currently has five instructors, all from the Pennsylvania National Guard, and five more Soldiers are going through training to become instructors. All instructors must complete a seven-week course at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, plus a two-week online course.
Plans call for having five or six classes a year and eventually having 24 to 30 students per class, Wehr said.
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