Army pilots, Unmanned Aircraft Systems operators to team up on battlefield

Kelly Pate, Fort Rucker Public Affairs FORT RUCKER, Ala.  – Serving as an Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems operator once meant providing video feed and hoping someone was looking at the computer screen besides you. Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, will take on a new role as a Combat Aviation Brigade, or CAB, element with the upcoming deployment this fall of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Ky. Because of a CAB redesign, UAS operators and helicopter pilots will now be better synched to support the ground commander’s mission and save lives, said Col. Paul Bontrager, 101st CAB commander, during the 101st CAB’s Aviation Training Exercise at Fort Rucker in June. “It’s value added in having a UAS platform up, and Apache pilots and Kiowa pilots are both seeing benefits of utilizing UAS. When the operation is occurring the UAS operator has the understanding and the information needed for him to proactively use that asset. He’s not just a person waiting to be told what to do. He’s actually part of the mission now,” Bontrager said. Organic UAS is one impact of the “full-spectrum” brigade re-design that makes the 101st CAB the Army’s […]
Army pilots, Unmanned Aircraft Systems operators to team up on battlefield