On Saturday October 1, SATSA made its annual fall excursion to the MQ-9 Drone Training Facility at Hancock AFNG Base in Syracuse, NY.  Twenty-five SATA members attended the excursion, including graduate and law students from Syracuse University, as well as distinguished faculty from INSCT, the Maxwell School, and the Syracuse University College of Law.

Attendees were given an unclassified briefing by an intelligence unit officer on the intelligence cycle, the MQ-9 Reaper’s capabilities and history, and a tour of a command and control module.  The group was also given a guided walk around the MQ-9 UAV itself by a field maintenance technician.

Seeing these aircraft up close and speaking with experts operating them in the field on a daily basis was an exceptional experience.  We would like to thank the personnel of Hancock AFNG Base for making our first excursion of the year possible.