home News Louisiana National Guard drone training center opens at Fort Polk

Louisiana National Guard drone training center opens at Fort Polk

Feb 6, 2015

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The Louisiana National Guard (LANG) opened the Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Facility (TUASOF). The 11.5-acre center includes a 1,200-foot runway for unmanned aircraft and 10,000 square-foot building. Its building costs are estimated at $5.5 million.

The unit’s primary mission is to support the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk. The TUASOF also provides UAS specific training for other National Guard UAS platoons, as well as fly the RQ-7B Shadow Unmanned Aircraft in the adversary UAS role. This is the replication of enemy UAS tactics as they would be used against US forces on a future battlefield.

“We felt it was very important for the Louisiana National Guard to devote the resources to develop our UAS capabilities,” said Maj. Gen. Glenn H. Curtis, adjutant general of the LANG. “Our partnership with Fort Polk has enabled us to provide cutting edge training to better prepare our military forces for the future battlefield; this is something we are very proud of.”

Louisiana Army National Guard: an RQ-7B Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle

According to sUAS, since the first flight in August 2013, the UAS facility has supported 11 JRTC rotations by flying 40-50 flight hours per rotation. The TUASOF supports every type of unit in the Army that comes through JRTC including conventional brigade combat teams, Special Operations Forces and U.S. Air Force and Navy units. More than 200 National Guard and active component UAS Soldiers have trained at the facility.

“With unmanned aircraft systems playing such a dominant role on the 21st century battlefield, determining methods and ways to defeat enemy tactics is vital to the protection of U.S. and allied forces,” said Harvey Browne, coordinator at the National Guard Bureau for Army National Guard UAS Programs.

The Louisiana guard’s unmanned aircraft systems program manager, Warrant Officer 2 Michael Gray, says neither the national training center nor U.S. facilities in Germany has a similar unit with regular training as its mission.