by the time I got here, the unit was gearing up to go to Europe, so we had limited flight hours, and all our equipment was packed up, so I was doing most of my flying in simulators. But once I got to Europe, it was definitely a new experience—to go from flying at school to flying in a completely dif- ferent country. I kind of submerged myself into a whole new world of UAS.


Harrison is 1 of 12 soldiers in the Army’s “What’s Your Warrior?” campaign about popular military careers.


flight went—the goods, the bads, the sus- tains—and take that information onto the next flight.


Do all the pilots understand the work you do and how you’re helping them, or are there some naysayers out there?


I’ll be completely honest with you, there are some naysayers. But, overall, the pilots seem hopeful about us. They want to be able to use us more than what we’re able to provide right now. They want to help us out, so it’s great; we want to help them out as well. So it’s a constant help-me, help- you type of thing. We don’t get a lot of MUM-T training, at


least for this unit. But when we do, we try to execute it as best we can and build off of the small things we’re able to control. It’s still a growing process, so we’re still taking baby steps to make sure it’s the best we can make it.


How long have you been flying? I’ve been flying for about three years. I started in school in Arizona in 2018, and my first live flight was August of that year. I’ve been flying ever since I got to this unit. But


So you flew in Arizona, in Europe, and now you’re in Korea. Is there a big difference between the three? Do you have to learn different sets of rules for operations? In Korea, [as of late January we were] still on COVID quarantine, so I haven’t been able to leave the base. But as far as Europe goes, we went from Germany to Poland, and those two were completely different. In our briefings, we were told about the dif- ferent airspaces available, the different flight hours we could fly. Most of it tended to line up the same, aside from the air- spaces we could fly and operate in. Working with the local authorities was


new and challenging, but in both countries, they worked really well with UAS. I guess the only thing I’d say is much different from flying in the States is for our UAS guys— our Shadow guys.


How big is a Shadow? It’s about 24, 25 ft. in wingspan and weighs about 450 lb.


So not like the comparatively small UAS people in the States tend to think of. The Shadow is a small airplane, essentially. Ha! Yeah, pretty much.


It sounds as though you’re very happy in UAS aviation, like you feel you’ve found your career. I’m very happy. I’m out here getting a great education from this, great experiences. I meet a lot of different people, and I’m just having a blast with it. I’m optimistic about the future.


What does the nickname “The Upper Hand” and the role it signifies mean to you?


It means I’m the eye in the sky. I’m helping ground troops and pilots detect any threats out there, or any of the items or targets we need to detect. That way, the guys on the ground and in the sky can feel secure. We’re making sure they get their mission accomplished. We’re basically a big secu- rity camera that looks after them, to reas- sure them they’re safe.


A team from the Army’s 1st Infantry Division launches the Shadow, the unit’s unmanned aircraft. The drone appears almost airplane-like, given that it weighs approximately 450 lb. and has a wingspan of nearly 25 ft.


MARCH 2021 ROTOR 21


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