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But this runs into the perennial question of generalists versus specialists. Should counter-drone, or C-UAS, be a skill taught across the U.S. Army, with every soldier a potential asset for air defense? Or should C-UAS be assigned to highly trained specialists? The service needs to create a specialized C-UAS Military Occupational Specialty, or MOS, argues one Army officer. Current C-UAS training is too generalized, according to Clifton, who is headquarters and headquarters detachment commander for the 110th Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Battalion. “The Joint CUAS course is generally an afterthought for training and pulls soldiers from their primary MOS responsibilities,” he wrote. “The current training environment nearly always prioritizes maneuver, intelligence, and combined arms tactics, relegating C-UAS training to a secondary role where it is thrown in a corner and forgotten about, only reemerging when a critical event, such as a drone swarm overflight of a BN [battalion] HQ, reminds leaders of the importance of C-UAS,” the report warned. Units rotating through NTC suffer from a lack of standardized tactical standard operating procedures, “refined” battle drills and dedicated C-UAS planning and personnel, according to the report. Ironically, one potential benefit of a counter-drone career field has nothing to do with drones. A C-UAS MOS might be a recruiting tool for attracting young people “with an affinity for technology and video games,” Clifton argued. “Recruits already predisposed to systems like the Xbox controller will lower the learning curve and make their training faster and more cost effective.”
