West Coast Marines aim to train 500 drone pilots a year in 15-day course

Marines on the West Coast have launched a 15-day crash course to train attack-drone operators, and leaders hope to certify about 500 students a year. The fast-paced curriculum teaches flying, aerial navigation, and how to safely prepare and deploy explosive payloads made with C-4.

So far the program has certified 75 Marines. Training begins on simulators before students move to inexpensive, off-the-shelf drones and then to more complex systems, including instructor-built aircraft and the Marine Corps' Neros Archer. "The simulators allow them to develop the core skills that we can then transition to our smaller drone for them to refine," said 1st Lt.

Braeden McClain. Neros received a $17 million contract last year for around 8,000 of its small drones. Exercises emphasize team roles — pilot, team leader, communications support, and payload preparation — along with detailed mission planning, checkpoints, and "talking on target," the verbal process of guiding a drone to an objective.

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