FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The unmanned aerial systems of the North Carolina Army National Guard’s 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team recently received a military-style extreme home makeover with the grand opening of a new facility at Fort Bragg, Aug. 3.
The building offers a new one-stop-shop for maintenance, security, and will even soon include wash racks for the systems, which include the unmanned aerial vehicles, the ground control systems which operate those vehicles, and the trailers that transport both. Previously, soldiers of Detachment 1, Company A, 30th Special Troops Battalion, 30th ABCT drilled in a much smaller, shared location, separate from their systems. Additionally, the location of the new facility is closer to the airfield from where the vehicles launch, which increases the operation efficiency, as well as responsiveness in times of emergencies.
“Our vehicles used to be in one location, ground control systems in another, and we launched from a third location,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Farley Miller, platoon leader and supervisor of UAS operations. “Now, we just load up and go.”
“Efficiency is greatly improved,” said Sgt. Joseph Heath a UAS maintainer and repairer with Alpha Company. Heath said hours were often lost in the logistical demands of transporting the aerial vehicles and ground control systems from their different locations for flight or repair. Now that the systems are all housed together, and in an area large enough to perform maintenance, Heath said it leaves more time for operation.
Further, the facility is one of the first of its kind and strengthens the one-team-one-fight partnership, as it was specifically designed to also house aerial vehicle crew trainer simulators, which the North Carolina National Guardsmen share with local active duty Army soldiers.
“We trade off and help each other," Miller said.