CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA, Japan —
From Aug. 11 to 22, 2025, U.S. Marines and Sailors with 4th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, trained with, integrated, and expanded their use of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). For the first time, Marines flew untethered sUAS over an Okinawa-based, Marine Corps installation.
This aligns directly with the Secretary of Defense’s drone modernization guidance, released July 10, 2025, which prioritizes training with autonomous capabilities, leaning into adaptability, and pursuing joint-force integration with these emerging technologies.
“The Marines and Sailors with 4th Marine Regiment are getting use to utilizing and innovating with technology that we haven’t used in the past,” said Capt. Wesley Pond, Regimental Assistant Air Officer, 4th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division and lead planner of the sUAS and autonomous, unmanned ground vehicle (A-UGV) training on Camp Schwab. “We are helping them to see new things, new ways to find an adversary and new ways of moving about the battlespace.”
The Marines and Sailors attended a course with the Skydio X2D sUAS to sustain their proficiency with the system. This in-depth training allowed some servicemembers to receive an additional Military Occupational Specialty as sUAS operators after they completed all the required training objectives. The Marines in the course were able to take their increased proficiency in sUAS employment back to their unit to better integrate the systems in future training evolutions.
“Marines of any rank are encouraged to participate in the courses in order to receive the qualifications to operate group one UAS,” said Pond. “This in total increases the Marine Corps’ combat effectiveness by having capable Marines, of any MOS, at the ready to operate drones in any situation.”
“We will continue to push the metaphorical football down the field and keep getting better. We are going to field the Marines with the weapons and the systems they need to enhance their lethality, to go confidently into the next battlespace and know they are walking into a fight that they are well prepared for.”
– said Capt. Wesley Pond, Regimental Assistant Air Officer, 4th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division and lead planner of the sUAS and autonomous, unmanned ground vehicle (A-UGV) training on Camp Schwab.
The Marines and Sailors with 4th Marine Regiment refined shared procedures for experimental methods of extracting an emergency casualty via the Mission Master. This A-UGV platform can assist with tactical transport, resupply, and casualty evacuation, reducing danger to dismounted troops across a wide range of missions, including high-risk situations.
“This is the first time our corpsmen in the 4th Marines Regimental Aid Station have had the opportunity to train with and use an autonomous system as a CASEVAC platform,” said U.S. Navy Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman David Long, senior enlisted leader, 4th Marines Regimental Aid Station.
In this training scenario, the Mission Master was used to carry wounded servicemembers out of harm’s way on the battlefield, enabling the Corpsmen to quickly and tactically bring the casualty behind friendly lines.
“This takes a huge load off the humans that would previously have to physically carry that casualty on a litter a long distance or we would have to use a large, loud tactical vehicle,” said Long. “It also allows us to provide treatment enroute to the casualty collection point for follow-on care. This capability has the potential to help us save lives and quickly return more Marines back to the fight.”
As the future of warfighting continues to evolve, 4th Marine Regiment continues to modernize as well.
“This training demonstrates the 4th Marine Regiment’s commitment to train as we fight and to compete with adversary capabilities now,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Richard Barclay, commanding officer, 4th Marine Regiment. “Training isn’t just about preparing for a future fight but maintaining a decisive edge in the current operating environment. What Capt. Pond, the 3d Marine Division, and Marine Corps Installations Pacific team have achieved is just the start of much more work to be done within the realms of sUAS and UGV training.”
Cpl Joaquin Carlos Dela Torre
3rd Marine Division
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