Many military jobs involve working with and operating complex equipment, making drone piloting a natural fit for veterans as they make the transition to the civilian workforce.
Wounded Warrior Project and CSX have joined forces to provide veterans with training to become certified drone pilots. WWP's Warriors to Work program launched the training in April 2021 after recognizing a demand for drone pilots across various industries.
"Veterans are specially trained and bring valuable skills to the job like dependability, leadership," said WWP CEO and retired Army Lt. Gen. Mike Linnington. "However, transitioning from military to civilian life can still be difficult, especially for wounded veterans.”
CSX now sponsors the program which allows warriors to obtain their commercial drone pilot licenses from the Federal Aviation Administration.
As part of the training, CSX's technology team and special agents recently hosted warriors at its railyard in Jacksonville, Florida for an immersive look at drone usage in the transportation sector.
Among those who participated is Daniel Peoples, who served as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps then as a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army before retiring from the military in 2017.
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With tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Peoples said he became involved with the drone program because it combined his affinity for aviation with his desire to continue to serve.
“My career goal after service has been to work for an emergency agency like FEMA doing natural disasters or doing humanitarian work,” he said.
Prior to graduating from the program, Peoples only had experience flying recreational drones.
“The learning curve is steep with commercial drones and the progressiveness of the industry and the technology is advancing rapidly,” he said.
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Peoples has started his own commercial drone company in Tampa, Florida. He recently put his drone skills to use when he aided in a search and rescue mission for a missing Tampa woman, who was found safe.
Nearly one in five CSX employees served in the U.S. military and many continue to hold Reserve or National Guard status. The company also offers a wide range of benefits for its veteran employees, including a military business resource group. Past Annual Warrior Surveys found WWP warriors employed by companies offering a resource group or veteran mentorship program are more likely to be professionally fulfilled.
"With highly transferable skills and a shared commitment to service, veterans are a natural fit for our business and many others, but they need the opportunity to secure meaningful employment. Through our partnership with Wounded Warrior Project, we are honored to work alongside these classes of veterans as they receive valuable certifications to help them transition to the civilian workforce," said CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs.
More than 60 WWP warriors have earned certifications since the program's inception. Several warriors now have jobs flying drones in sectors like defense, telecommunications, real estate, construction, oil and gas, and sanitation.
CSX will also provide expertise and drone demonstrations at the final in-person drone training for warriors later this year in Albany, New York.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.