28th Infantry Division team wins for innovation at Army drone competition

A team of soldiers from the 28th Infantry Division at Fort Indiantown Gap won the innovation competition earlier this month at the U.S. Army’s inaugural Best Drone Warfighter Competition.

The competition was held Feb. 17 to 19 at the Huntsville Test Range in Huntsville, Alabama, according to a release from Pennsylvania National Guard spokesman Brad Rhen. The competition included soldiers from active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve units and was ranked in three categories: Best Operator, Best Tactical Squad, and Best Innovation.

The 28th Infantry team, which consisted of 1st Lt. Ryan Giallonardo, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Reed, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nathan Shea, and Sgt. 1st Class Brent Wehr, won the innovation competition, Rhen said in the release.

The team’s project was dubbed Project R.E.D., or Recovery Exploitation Drone, and utilized a drone equipped with AI-enabled object-recognition software to identify downed enemy or friendly drones and a robotic, 3D-printed, carbon fiber arm with claw to grab the downed drone and fly it back for intel exploitation or repair.

“This is a great achievement for the team and the UAS facility as well as the Pennsylvania National Guard as a whole,” Reed, the 28th ID team captain, said in the release. “Competing against the entire Army, putting in the work and coming out on top really speaks volumes to what the team has been doing and the hard work they’ve been putting in, and it highlights the Pennsylvania National Guard and what we’re able to accomplish.”

The innovation competition consisted of a “Shark Tank”-style pitch on the first day, followed by a live demonstration on the second.

“The judges were very impressed with everything we went through,” Reed said. “We got a lot of positive feedback and a lot of opportunity to continue working further with the Army Research Laboratory. They were highly impressed with what we were able to put together.”

Reed is the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Training and Innovation Facility commander at Fort Indiantown Gap. He said he was able to view some of the other teams’ projects in the innovation category, and the competition was stiff.

“They did a lot of great work and put a lot of other great projects out there, so it was great for the UAS community in the Army as a whole to be able to come together and collaborate ideas,” he said. “It was a great honor for our team and for the state to be recognized as the top project amongst all the other great competitors in the event.”

A spokesman for the National Guard said the contest is “a pretty big deal for the Army as it focuses more and more on drone warfare.”

In addition to the innovation team, Capt. Christopher Rongione competed in the operator category, and a team of Wehr and Sgt. Tyler Beck competed in the tactical squad category.

The tactical squad category, also referred to as the hunter-killer competition, started with a physical challenge, including weighted medical litter drags, overhead water can presses and sandbag carries, Rhen explained in the release. They moved 1,000 meters with their gear to a target area, where they employed their “hunter” drone to identify targets, send an enemy activity report, and engage with the “killer” drone.

“In both categories, our team put in a lot of hard work and had a great showing, but unfortunately didn’t come out on top,” Reed said.

The 28th Infantry Division was the only Army National Guard unit to compete in all three events. Three of the teammates – Reed, Shea, and Wehr – work full-time at the Fort Indiantown Gap drone facility, Rhen said.

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll attended the awards ceremony Feb. 19 and presented plaques to the winners. The 28th ID team also received an Army Research Lab drone prototype and a one-year research-and-development agreement to allow them to assist ARL in design improvements.

“We’re excited to continue to have incredible support from state and division level leadership,” Reed said. “They’ve been very helpful and very supportive of everything we’re doing, and it’s allowing us to highlight what we can do at our facility. And, I’m super proud of my entire team and everything they’re doing.”