A press briefing involving Major John Moore with CENTCOM, U.S. Central Command Chief Technology Officer Schuyler Moore and Army Sergeant Mickey Reeve highlights use of C-UAS and focused on innovation.

Sergeant Mickey Reeve is the inaugural winner from the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Currently, he is deployed to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. While deployed, he built and developed a counter-unmanned aerial system training software system. 

U.S. Central Command Chief Technology Officer Schuyler Moore opens by mentioning that the problem is currently threats that evolve rapidly without having a system that can keep up with the constantly moving threat. Moore follows with pointing out that there is an opportunity to take advantage of new age technology and move these infrastructures into the space that needs it. In her role, Moore prioritizes getting the best technology to the people that need it as quickly as possible. She examines technology from the commercial sector and DoD to get the best system as fast as she can. 

Following Moore’s opening statements, Army Sergeant Mickey Reeve speaks to his efforts and current project. While deployed to Saudi Arabia, Reeve used his free and spare time to develop a counter-UAS training software. He was a part of the counter-UAS team in Saudi Arabia and noticed that there was an opportunity to bridge many of their independent counter-UAS systems. These proprietary independent counter-UAS systems could come together to provide a common operating picture for training purposes. Reeve built a sandbox tool for operators and teams to train against any c-UAS threat in any environment possible. This is going to push the limits of their training and ensure the operators have quality repetition going against any type of threat. He built this tool completely independent of any counter-UAs system to ensure it would be compatible with any current or future system. 

This tool Reeve developed is intended to allow the people closest to the threat to mimic the environment and train against the real threats they could face. He has observed that CENTCOM is standing up to initiatives to connect subject matter experts, most times junior officers, with senior leadership that can put the provided solutions into effect. 

Reeve’s experience with counter-UAS was a catalyst for him to build this solution. He has been able to speak with members of CENTCOM and promote innovation by influencing them. He has recognized numerous talented service members that have solutions to pressing problems most operators are facing in today’s environment. 

Read more on this press release and follow-up audience questions at U.S. Central Command Holds a Press Briefing on Their Employment of Artificial Intelligence and Unmanned Systems > U.S. Department of Defense > Transcript. The press briefing recording can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF6ItAAXYrQ.