This past week I embedded with the unmanned aerial systems crew at Forward Operating Base Sharana. It was a unique experience because I had the fortune to write several stories on their training back in the rear. I wanted to visit them while deployed and see how their experiences differed from being in garrison. What I found it is that they, like many military jobs, have extremely exciting experiences and extremely boring ones. 

A UAS Shadow  is a remotely controlled plane with a camera attached and can be used to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance without putting any Soldiers in harm's way. The Soldiers who operate the system have to keep a lot of things in mind when they are flying. It isn't just pushing a button and clicking. They have to know about wind speed, temperature, air density, what air craft is in the area. The list goes on and on. These guys have to know all kinds of rules and variables which means they are constantly doing training to stay updated.  

Communication plays a big role in their job. They not only communicate with each other but they also have to know what's happening in the air space so they don't fly into anything.

There are two main areas for the UAS field. One is  an operator, who primarily flies the UAS and operates the camera. I learned that using the camera well is a lot more difficult than it looks because the UAS is constantly moving. Maintainers are the other half of the team. They do maintenance work on the aircraft and prep it for launch. They are also the ones who are responsible for setting up the landing gear.

Since I was embedded with the crew, they let me sit in on pretty much every aspect of their jobs. From the briefings at shift change, to launching, to actually flying, I saw it all. It was like being in one of those spy thrillers, only better because this was actually real.

Read the full story at http://www.dvidshub.net/news/76091/eyes-sky-uas-team-supports-tf-duke-operations