UTAC Instructors 2023

Scenario:
Movement to Contact

Speaker:
Tactical Flight Operations

I have been employed with the Texas Department of Public Safety since 2005 and have risen to the rank of UAS Captain within the Aircraft Operations Division. I started working with UAS in 2013 when my unit began testing the DJI Phantom for crash scene photography and later was a part of the working group to develop the my department's first Standard Operating Procedures for UAS operations in 2016. Since that time, I managed the UAS operations for the Texas Highway Patrol, which consisted of over 100 RPICs and close to the same number of UAS.

In 2022, I promoted to my current position, overseeing all UAS operations for our department, which consists of almost 300 RPICs and just over 300 UAS. I hold an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot certificate and I am one of the lead instructors for my departments RPIC schools. I currently teach in our basic and advanced RPIC schools and have assisted in the training of over 300 RPICs. I am also certified through APSA as a NIST Proctor.

Speaker:
UAS Team Start-Up, Management, and General Practices

Michael Wittrock and Adam Luke are members of the Story County Iowa Sheriff's Office UAS Team Leadership. Michael serves as the Administrative Support Officer / Pilot, with Adam serving as the flight safety coordinator / pilot. They both assist with overseeing a dedicated UAS team that contains over a dozen aircraft and 13 Part 107 Certified UAS Pilots.

In addition to general law-enforcement training and experience, areas of specific continued training within the UAS field possessed by Adam and Michael includes attendance and graduation from the DHS / New Mexico Tech Counter UAS School, the USAF / Coast Guard Basic Inland Search and Rescue Course, and the USAF / Coast Guard National Inland Search and Rescue Planning School.

Some examples of incidents the Story County UAS Team has responded to recently include the Ames, Iowa Cornerstone Church Active Shooter, a major train derailment involving Hazmat operations, the search for missing child Xavier Harrelson, and an incident in which a college rowing team boat capsized resulting in 4 missing persons. In 2022, the Story County UAS Team participated in 45 unique events that range from self-deployment from Part 107 Certified Deputies, emergency callouts, and community event support.

Scenario:
Confined Mass Causality

I am the program coordinator of the Winnipeg Police Service (1500 members) RPAS program (including Spot Robot), which is one of the most advanced programs in Canada. I am a subject matter expert in the use of operational/ tactical drone deployment – using multiple systems in multiple hundreds of calls. I have over 1400 operational mission flights. I have been part of the NIST program for RPAS since its inception and have been part of two RPAS program enhancement workshops as part of an ongoing focus group that meets with Adam and Tom and crew from NIST once or twice a year developing the indoor RPAS standards.

Profiles: Over watch, Search and Rescue, tactical indoor/outdoor RPAS, Crime Scene and Collision Reconstruction (imagery and orthomosaic mapping), as well as the Boston Dynamics Spot robot as well (I am the only operator at present).

I am a co-founder of the Canadian Emergency Response Robotics Association (CERRA), and am on multiple working groups (BVLOS, NIST, NavDrone etc)

I perform the RPAS role for the Survival, Escape, Resist, Evade (SERE) Courses for the Royal Canadian Air Force where we search for pilots learning to evade forces in the forest for 3 days, 2 nights conducting hours of night searching operations.

I also build FPV drones and have a robust working knowledge of everything from analog vs HD cameras, flight controllers, ESC, motor selection, command and control links over multiple frequencies etc.

I am also an Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel and currently serve a post command position as Deputy Commander 1 Health Services Group and hold a NATO affiliated position as the Secretary General for International Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers (CIOMR)

I am also an ICU / Air Ambulance Nurse by background and a current clinical professor at Université de St Boniface, teaching 3rd/4th year acute surgery and a senior practicum advisor.

I have received the Order of Military Merit medal and am a Commander in the Order of St John as well as multiple other medals.

Scenario:
Vehicle Interdiction

John DeLuca is currently a Sergeant with the St. Petersburg Police Department assigned to the Investigative Division - Narcotics. He began his career in 2003 and has extensive experience specifically relating to undercover surveillance, street level narcotics, violent crimes/offenders and SWAT operations.

He has been assigned to the department's Undercover Special Investigations Unit, Street Crimes Unit and the Pinellas County Violent Crimes Task Force. John has been a member of the department's SWAT team since 2006, where he currently serves as the Assistant SWAT Team Commander. In addition to his SWAT responsibilities, he is department's lead coordinator for the deployment of robotics and drones. He is a certified Instructor with experience in surveillance, undercover operations, and tactics.

General Instructor

Justin has been with FLYMOTION for 5 years and currently is the team lead for FLYMOTION's Training Division. He has trained members of public safety, government, and defense from all over the world. In his travels, he has gathered knowledge on tactics, techniques, and procedures that make him a SME in the deployment of unmanned systems into austere and exigent environments.

Working with sUAS, ground, and aquatic robotics, he and his team have worked hard to champion "Robotic Teaming" and help agencies put multiple disciplines of unmanned systems into play keeping operators and team members safe.

Speaker:
UAS Team Start-Up, Management, and General Practices

Scenario:
Missing Endangered

Michael Wittrock and Adam Luke are members of the Story County Iowa Sheriff's Office UAS Team Leadership. Michael serves as the Administrative Support Officer / Pilot, with Adam serving as the flight safety coordinator / pilot. They both assist with overseeing a dedicated UAS team that contains over a dozen aircraft and 13 Part 107 Certified UAS Pilots.

In addition to general law-enforcement training and experience, areas of specific continued training within the UAS field possessed by Adam and Michael includes attendance and graduation from the DHS / New Mexico Tech Counter UAS School, the USAF / Coast Guard Basic Inland Search and Rescue Course, and the USAF / Coast Guard National Inland Search and Rescue Planning School.

Some examples of incidents the Story County UAS Team has responded to recently include the Ames, Iowa Cornerstone Church Active Shooter, a major train derailment involving Hazmat operations, the search for missing child Xavier Harrelson, and an incident in which a college rowing team boat capsized resulting in 4 missing persons. In 2022, the Story County UAS Team participated in 45 unique events that range from self-deployment from Part 107 Certified Deputies, emergency callouts, and community event support.

General Instructor

Mike has been part of the FLYMOTION team for one year serving in the role as Technical Trainer and, currently, Solutions Technician. Coming from the Special Operations community within the 75th Ranger Regiment, Mike understands the current tactical environment and need for advanced technical capabilities to enhance the warfighter.

Throughout his time at FLYMOTION, he has trained various public safety and government agencies on the use of drones and ground robotics and is our SME on all things FPV. His military background and technical prowess enable him and his team to develop force multiplying capabilities, operate in technically demanding tactical environments, and provide new solutions for the current mission sets across Public Safety, Defense, and Government entities.

Scenario:
HazMat Evacuation

I am currently the Special Operations Captain for the Valdosta Fire Department where I oversee technical rescue and hazmat. Realistic training scenarios and modern solutions are my favorite way to prepare our first responders for what they could actually encounter in the field.

Today, that includes options we could never have dreamed of just a few years ago and it is my goal to see greatly expanded use of sUAS and robotic systems in departments such as mine.

Workshop:
Advanced Interior Flight Challenge

I supervise Arlington's Unmanned Aviation Program. Our team consists of 34 public safety pilots, who supported 447 missions in 2022. We conduct operations for Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, and NCAA events.

I am also an FAA FAAST Team representative, FCC licensed radio technician, and VP/Public Safety Liaison for FPV Freedom Coalition.

Workshop: AUVSI Trusted Operator Program

Vern Shurtz is a highly experienced TOP Level 3 Remote Pilot and Remote Pilot Instructor. He is an Adjunct Instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the Program Manager for AUVSI’s Trusted Operator Training and Certification program. Vern also volunteers his time and expertise working with Sonar Search and Recovery Teams, helping them to find Missing Persons and their vehicles in bodies of water. Vern has been a commercial UAS operator and remote pilot since 2015 and is a US Navy Submarine Veteran.

General Instructor

Wes Rinehart is currently a Chief Warrant Officer 4, retiring from the U.S. Army, and will be working with FLYMOTION as a training/instructor. Wes shares the passion of FLYMOTION’s mission statement of “supporting those who serve” by giving back to the public sector employees as well as the DoD.

Wes is also enthusiastic about acting as a relatable conduit to the military, especially in UAS specialties where real-world training and the facilities to conduct such training are lacking at best. Wes has served over 20 years in the U.S. Army, where he was a paratrooper in the illustrious 82nd Airborne Division, a Kiowa Warrior Scout Reconnaissance pilot, and finally, finishing up his career as an Unmanned Aircraft System Technician sUAS and the Gray Eagle Group 4 UAS.

Scenario:
Mobile Scene Operations (DFR)

Workshop:
DFR: Where to Begin

I am a 23-year veteran officer assigned to the San Antonio Police Aviation unit for the past 17 years. I am a commercial rated helicopter pilot with 2000 plus flight hours.

I have been with our drone program, (RAVEN) since inception in 2018. Our Helicopter program fly an average of 3000 hours per year and currently the drone program is flying an average of 400 hours per month.

NIST Station

Adam Jacoff is a robotics research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Over the past thirty years, he has developed a variety of innovative robots and directed evaluations of more than a hundred others in a range of sizes, including the first technology readiness level assessment of autonomous mobility for the U.S. Army's Experimental Unmanned Vehicle (XUV) (2002-2003).

His current efforts are focused toward developing a suite of 50 standard test methods for response robots to objectively evaluate ground, aquatic, and aerial system capabilities and facilitate integration of emerging technologies. He has conducted more than thirty international robot competitions using the test methods as challenge tasks to guide innovation and measure progress (2000-present). He has conducted more than a hundred robot exercises to refine and validate the test methods with emergency responders and robot manufacturers, including dozens of comprehensive robot evaluations using the test methods to quantify key capabilities guiding more than $100M of purchasing decisions for civilian and military organizations (2005-present).

He is now validating use of the test methods as repeatable practice tasks to focus remote operator/pilot training and measure proficiency for credentialing.

Recognition of his work includes:

• Presidential Gears of Government Award (2020) for exceptional delivery of key outcomes for the American people.
• Department of Commerce’s Secretary Ron Brown Excellence in Innovation Award (2019), Gold Medal Award (2019), and three Bronze Medal Awards (2011, 2004, 2002).
• Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer (2008).
• NIST's Measurement Science Award (2014) and Applied Research Award (2006).
• Commendations from DARPA (2015), Dept. of Homeland Security (2014), Dept. of State (2014), Army (2009) and several state and local responder organizations.
• International Awards from the Japanese Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (2003), the International Rescue Systems Institute (2011), and the ASTM International Standards
• Society Award of Merit for lifetime achievement with honorary title of Fellow (2015).

He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a M.S. degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.