From Classroom to Combat: How UAS Training Is Evolving

Small unmanned aircraft systems are everywhere now. On job sites, film sets, battlefields, and soon, carrying passengers between cities. The technology has moved fast, and everyone has to work hard to keep up, including our industry.

We spoke with Kenneth Michael Canada, Associate Professor, Interim Chair and Program Coordinator at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and learned what the U.S. Army is doing at Fort Benning, Georgia. What we found was two very different approaches to the same goal: making sure the people operating these aircraft fully understand what they're doing and the impact UASs will have on the skies.

Learning to Fly, and Then Some

At Embry-Riddle, students don't just learn to fly a drone. They start by building one.

Canada, who goes by Mike, walks his students through everything: FAA regulations, hands-on construction, programming autopilot systems and eventually heading out to the flight field. From there, the curriculum branches into learning about sensors, cinematography, industrial inspections and geo-mapping. One class even mapped all 267 acres of Meteor Crater, a natural landmark in Arizona, using a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system in just five flights.

The philosophy behind all of it is straightforward. Canada wants to produce aviators, not just operators.

"We want them to treat the UAS like an aircraft they'd be sitting in," he says.

It shows in the results. One recent graduate was in California when he came across a crew struggling with a drone operation. He stepped in, knew exactly what to do, and walked away with a job offer in hand.

Embry-Riddle is also looking ahead. Canada is working with the flight department to integrate manned and unmanned training together, building out procedures ahead of the FAA's anticipated Part 108 regulations. Part 108 is an upcoming FAA regulation aimed to standardize Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for drones. Students are already getting exposure to Urban Air Mobility concepts, and two interns are currently working on a project tied to Honeywell's air taxi operations planned for the Olympics.

"When the pistol goes off at the starting line, we'll be ready," Canada says.

Every Soldier, Drone Literate

At Fort Benning, Georgia, the Army's approach is less about depth and more about reach. The Army isn't trying to turn every soldier into a certified drone pilot. They want every soldier to understand what it’s like to be one.

Since August 2025, Infantry and Armor trainees at One-Station Unit Training (OSUT) have been going through a 10-hour small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) familiarization course as part of their training program. Using Virtual Battle Space 4, they work through everything from basic controller use to tactical reconnaissance and simulated strikes in a virtual environment.

The training is divided into three distinct phases: flight training, basic tactical training and a culminating assessment. During the tactical phase, trainees use night vision, thermal, and infrared cameras to identify enemy personnel and vehicles before conducting simulated drone strikes.

"Virtual simulations allow us to train the skills at scale using less resources," says Rory O'Brien, a simulation specialist with the MCoE.

There aren't enough resources to put thousands of trainees through live flight every cycle, so simulation helps fill the gap.

In the first 60 days of the program, trainees showed an average improvement of two minutes on timed assessments. After an initial four to five hours of training, soldiers continue practicing at their units for four to six weeks before being assessed. It's a structure meant to build familiarity.

The course also helps commanders identify skilled soldiers for the formal sUAS Operators program, the Virtual Drone Collective Trainer Course (VDQC), a highly competitive program with only 24 slots available every two weeks. Typically just one or two soldiers are chosen from each OSUT company per cycle, and commanders look at a soldier's entire body of work alongside their VDQC results, including any pre-existing training background, before making their decisions.

The Army is also making the training available beyond Fort Benning. The VBS3 version of the training scenarios is currently being rolled out on the milGaming website this week, with the VBS4 version to follow by the end of March — putting the same curriculum within reach of units across the force.

Staying Ahead

Both Canada and the Army are thinking about the same thing: an airspace that is about to get a lot more crowded.

Air taxis, delivery drones, military assets and traditional aircraft are all heading toward the same sky. Canada describes it a bit like the Jetsons — except the logistics of making it all work safely are anything but simple.

"We're going to really have to start looking at how we're dividing up airspace," he says.

That's why training matters now more than ever. Whether it's a university student mapping a crater in Arizona or a new Army recruit learning a controller for the first time, the foundation being built today is what the future of this industry will stand on.