Search and Rescue Drone Training Course

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DARTdrones Public Safety Grant

The DARTdrones Public Safety Grant offers funding towards drone training for police and fire departments hoping to learn to utilize and adopt drones within their public safety department.

We at DARTdrones are committed to increasing the number of lives saved using drones. We believe the best way to achieve our mission is to get drones into the hands of skilled public safety officers nationwide. DARTdrones understands that adding a drones to your public safety operations can be intimidating and seem complex. Our organization is here to give your department the resources and training needed to successfully implement this industry-altering technology.

The DARTdrones Public Safety Grant provides full or partial funding to accepted departments nationwide. Every qualifying department will receive two complimentary Part 107 Test Prep and Real World Flight Planning & Execution courses.

To date, the DARTdrones team has awarded over $500,000 in drone training grant funds to 237+ police and fire departments. Applying for this grant is quick and simple. Start the application process below.

Start Your Application Here:

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Our Public Safety Professionals

DARTdrones is proud to have several public safety officers on our team of drone aviation experts.

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  • Aviation Experience

    N/A

  • Expertise

    Public Safety, Fire Behavior, Search and Rescue

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    500+

  • Pilot Rating

    Remote Pilot

Bryn LeRue

Public Safety Officer & Public Safety Drone Pilot

  • Aviation Experience

    N/A

  • Expertise

    Public Safety, Fire Behavior, Search and Rescue

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    500+

  • Pilot Rating

    Remote Pilot
A public safety officer with over 20 years of experience operating in both the United Kingdom and United States, DARTdrones Instructor, Bryn Le Rue currently resides in Haines City, Florida where he works as a Fire Officer and Instructor for the City of Auburndale Fire Department. Bryn has over 10 years of experience and 500 hours of flight time operating unmanned aircraft. His sUAS experience includes flying drones for search and rescue, disaster response, mass decontamination, infrastructure mapping and modeling for the public safety arena. Bryn has worked with a special focus on detection, inspection, and monitoring of CBRN (chemical, radioactive, biological, and nuclear incidents). Bryn currently possesses the AUVSI Top Level 1, SAR, and Disaster response drone certification and is experienced flying Matrice, Intell, Mavic Pro, Skydio, Autel Evo, and DJI Phantom hardware. Bryn is a passionate aviation trainer who loves educating other members of the public safety industry and creating safer and more effective public safety departments nationwide.

  • Aviation Experience

    33 years

  • Expertise

    Public Safety, Roof Inspections, Mapping

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    100+

  • Pilot Rating

    Private Pilot and former Naval Flight Officer

Gregory Pratt

Retired FBI, Naval Flight Officer, and Drone Business Owner

  • Aviation Experience

    33 years

  • Expertise

    Public Safety, Roof Inspections, Mapping

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    100+

  • Pilot Rating

    Private Pilot and former Naval Flight Officer
After graduating from high school, Greg enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves where he was trained to be an Air Traffic Controller at the age of 18. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. Shortly after college, he began taking flight lessons and earned his Private Pilot’s License. He was then commissioned as an officer in the Navy and spent six years as a Naval Flight Officer, flying in the S3-B aircraft off of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS George Washington aircraft carriers. After his time in the Navy, he applied for and was appointed to be an FBI Special Agent. He attended the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA and was then assigned to the San Antonio office, where he spent his entire career (22 years from 1998-2019). While in the FBI, he worked white collar crime, Public Corruption, and Counter-Terrorism cases. His collateral (part-time) duties included Surveillance Pilot, Evidence Response Team member and Team Leader, and Hostage/Crisis Negotiator. He retired in December of 2019. After retiring from the FBI, he wanted to do something fun and rewarding. He started a drone business (DroneStarLLC.com) and began teaching drone classes for DARTdrones and Austin Community College. He enjoys teaching and sharing his love and knowledge of drones. He still feels a strong attachment to the public safety community, and tries to get involved and help them out whenever he can.
 

  • Aviation Experience

    11 years

  • Expertise

    Public safety, search and rescue, FLIR, night operations

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    400

  • Pilot Rating

    Private Pilot- Single engine, Land; Remote Pilot

Chris Grazioso

Operations Lead for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division’s Drone Team

  • Aviation Experience

    11 years

  • Expertise

    Public safety, search and rescue, FLIR, night operations

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    400

  • Pilot Rating

    Private Pilot- Single engine, Land; Remote Pilot

After working 30+ years in public safety, Chris Grazioso is now the Operations Lead for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division’s Drone Team. 

Chris is responsible for flying missions, the team's initial and recurrent training, coordination of emergency responses which include pre and post incident damage assessments and large scale transportation accidents.

Chris is the team lead for the Metropolitan Law Enforcement SWAT Tactical Drone Unit which assists with pre-mission planning, real-time situational awareness, live streaming, search and rescue, and indoor and outdoor suspect searching.

Chris is also a FAAST Team DronePro for the Boston FSDO and on the Board of Advisors and is a Public Safety Technical Expert with DRONERESPONDERS.

Chris's extensive aviation experience includes 11 years as a manned aircraft pilot and 7 years as an unmanned pilot. He has significant experience in all of DJI’s rotorcraft as well as the Delair and eBee fixed wing aircraft. Chris's sensor experience includes EO, thermal, multispectral and LIDAR. Chris's UAS areas of expertise include aerial mapping and inspections, aerial photography and videography, public safety operations, night operations, search and rescue, and indoor flying.

  • Aviation Experience

    40 years

  • Expertise

    Public Safety

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    448

  • Pilot Rating

    Single Engine Land, Instrument Ratings, Remote Pilot Certificate

Jim O'Keefe

Sergeant Milford Police Department

  • Aviation Experience

    40 years

  • Expertise

    Public Safety

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    448

  • Pilot Rating

    Single Engine Land, Instrument Ratings, Remote Pilot Certificate
Jim is a manned pilot who owns a Cessna 172. He’s been involved in aviation for 40 years. He holds the Single Engine Land, Instrument Ratings as well as the Remote Pilot certificate. He began flying sUAS when he realized their potential in the public safety sector.

As a 20 year member of his police department, he holds the rank of Sergeant responsible for the training division for his department. He designed and implemented the sUAS program for his city. He wrote the SOP’s, secured the COA’s and necessary FAA waivers that allow operation in the tightly controlled airspace.

He and his three Remote Pilots have used their aircraft for water rescue, crime scene documentation, accident investigations, and lost people searches.

  • Aviation Experience

    8 years

  • Expertise

    Public safety training

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    994

  • Pilot Rating

    Part 61 Sport Pilot with a Weight-Shift Control Rating, Certified Thermographer

Roger Hall

Retired Firefighter

  • Aviation Experience

    8 years

  • Expertise

    Public safety training

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    994

  • Pilot Rating

    Part 61 Sport Pilot with a Weight-Shift Control Rating, Certified Thermographer

Roger is a retired firefighter who has not only dedicated his life to helping others but has also committed himself to elevating the efficiency of fire, police, and other municipal department employees across the nation by training fire, police, and EMP personnel to become proficient at flying drones before, during, and after emergencies of all types. Roger co-developed the DARTdrones Part 107 test prep program which has aided in over 15,000 students passing their FAA Remote Pilot Exam, becoming FAA certified drone pilots. Roger also co-developed our public safety UAS classes which were taught to emergency service personnel globally. These courses include Search and Rescue, Thermal and Night Operations, and our online Disaster Response class for licensed UAS pilots looking to assist after natural disasters like hurricanes in Florida.

Roger started working as a commercial UAS pilot in 2015 and started his own drone business in 2018. He acquired his Remote Pilot Certificate on the first day it was made available August 29, 2016.

Roger has over 940 UAS flight hours and has trained over 1,000 Florida residents, small businesses, educational institutions, corporations, public safety officers and others on how to fly drones recreationally and professionally. He has also taught over 500 Florida residents the knowledge required to pass the FAA Certified Drone Pilot Knowledge Test.

In addition to his training and encouragement of safe flying practices to Florida residents, Roger has served as an Ambassador for Aviation Safety Volunteers as a FAAST Team 'Drone Pro' Representative.

  • Aviation Experience

    N/A

  • Expertise

    Mapping & Modeling, Inspections, LiDAR

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    285+

  • Pilot Rating

    N/A

Seth Zora

Drone Business Owner and U.S. Air Force Veteran

  • Aviation Experience

    N/A

  • Expertise

    Mapping & Modeling, Inspections, LiDAR

  • Drone Instructor Hours

    285+

  • Pilot Rating

    N/A

Seth Zora is a retired, disabled veteran and drone business owner and operator currently based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Seth learned the capabilities of drone technology while serving in Afghanistan in 2008. After spending twelve years in the U.S. Air Force, Seth created AerdiA, a drone business primarily focused on the architectural, engineering, and construction industries. Seth has 300+ hours flying unmanned aircraft and is versed in flying DJI M600 Pro, DJI M210, DJI Phantom 4 RTK, DJI Mini, DJI Mavin Pro Platinum, and DJI Spark. Seth's training specialties include mapping, inspections, and LiDAR.

About DARTdrones

DARTdrones is the national leader in drone training, consultation, and expert support for new drone pilots. Our mission is to provide the highest quality training on Unmanned Aerial Systems to ensure the safe integration of drones into the national airspace. DARTdrones has assisted dozens of police and fire departments with implementing drone programs through training and consultation. Our team is dedicated to helping public safety departments be able to save lives through the use of drones.