Pfc. James Leaverton receives his aviation wings from Commanding General of the Intelligence Center of Excellence Jerry Proctor – Photo: Beatrice Richardson
Private First Class James Leaverton was honoured for being the 10,000th unmanned aircraft system operator to graduate at the United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE), Fort Huachuca since the inception of pilotless aircraft training began in 1986.
The 22-year-old Leaverton said he does not know how he became the 10,000th graduate but it was an honour. The Denver-raised soldier is being assigned to Fort Carson, in his home state of Colorado. He enlisted to be a UAS operator, an enlisted soldier who flies a pilotless aircraft — in his case a Shadow — from a ground console, because the field “is a good upcoming program,” Leaverton said. “I have a good friend who went though it (flight training) several years ago.”
Source: Sierra Vista Herald