Shadow operators provide eyes in the sky

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Northrup | Spc. John Nottingham, an Unmanned Aerial System Repairer with 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, uses a pressure calibrator on a Shadow UAS during preflight checks June 17, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Wash. This was during Bayonet Focus 17-03, an exercise that brought more than 7,000 people to the YTC to prepare 2-2 SBCT for the upcoming NTC rotation.  

YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WA, UNITED STATES

06.19.2017

Story by Staff Sgt. Samuel Northrup 

1-2 SBCT, 7th Infantry Division

YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. – Shadow unmanned aerial system operators and maintainers of 7th Infantry Division honed their skillset at Yakima Training Center, Wash., during Bayonet Focus 17-03, June 15-29.

The Soldiers provided imagery support for units conducting the BF 17-03 exercise, an effort that provided more realistic training for UAS personnel and service members in the field.

“This is different than training back at Joint Base Lewis-McChord because we are in a more tactical setting and we move a lot faster,” said Spc. Brysen Borja, a UAS operator with 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “The biggest difference is that we are always receiving a mission from a unit somewhere to get eyes on targets or help them find something.”

This imagery saves lives, according to Borja. With the imagery, units under attack can redirect and engage the enemy in the best way possible.

“As far as the Soldiers on the ground are concerned, the Shadow [UAS] helps them visualize the battlefield as well as help them conduct reconnaissance,” said 1st Lt. Kimberly Covey, UAS platoon leader with 1-2 SBCT. “They know where the enemy is located; this enables them to plan better and conduct their operations.”

When the operators and maintainers are not flying the Shadows, they are doing training on Forward Operating Base tactics and defense, said Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Page, Brigade Aviation Element UAS Representative for 2-2 SBCT. They are preparing for wartime operations. They have to proficient and be able to rely on themselves.

It definitely stresses the aircraft and Soldiers in different ways due to the environment, said Page. But it is good for the Soldiers and it is good for the equipment.

This was the first time the platoon has conducted their operations on an expeditionary landing strip, Covey said. The UAS airfield was recently built at YTC and they have been testing it out for 7th ID.

“555th Engineer Brigade did a really good job,” said Page. “The airfield is a great expeditionary-type airfield. This is something that you would see in a real-world scenario where you just gained airspace and land.”

The training also provided an additional opportunity for the platoons to see what it is like to operate with two platoons on one site, according to Covey. They don’t’ get to do that very often.

“It has been beneficial seeing how two platoons working side by side can get multiple aircraft in the air, especially when we are sharing a limited amount of space,” Covey said. “It has great experience and I get a glimpse of what we would experience down range with multiple platoons in one area.”

“We have come a long way in the past couple days,” Page said. “A lot of gaps have been filled.”

Borja said they train in the best way they can back at JBLM and at YTC so they can excel at their job. He is dedicated to the training and believes it will help those in need when the time comes.

“I love helping people,” said Borja. “Being in the air and trying to help units in anyway possible is one of the best ways I can help someone. That’s my motivation.”

• Date Taken: 06.19.2017
• Date Posted: 06.19.2017 17:16
• Story ID: 238460
• Location: YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WA, US