I was emailed a question, so I would like to share the answer with you all as well, in case someone else had the same one,
Yes I would be happy to tell you more. First the “eyes in the sky” corresponds with the Ohio air national guard and many members of our organization, the Ohio Military Reserve, were former members of the guard.
Our organization, the Ohio Military Reserve, has just launched the UAV company to support the mission of sustain and support in the state of Ohio. Our mission is primarily to support points of distribution traffic control, survey damage from natural disasters and limited search and rescue.
We meet once a month to train and one week per year. The UAV company meets in Columbus at the Haubrich Armory, whereas other units and companies within the Ohio Military Reserve meet all over Ohio at different national guard armories.
We volunteer our time for the monthly training/currency, we are paid by the state, whenever we are activated by the governor. Our pay corresponds with the US Army military pay grade. However, none of us are in it for the pay but primarily for the fun and camaraderie. We were activated last year during the tornadoes in Dayton and have also been activated since April during the Ohio Covid crisis. The points of distribution (POD) units were activated for a short time, whereas our medical units are still out in the field.
This is an exciting time because the Ohio Military Reserve has just established its UAV company and is starting from scratch ground up. We are writing our own training manuals, regulations and SOP‘s. The company has room for three platoons with a total of 12 operators, 12 spotters, 12 informational/video feed specialists and 20 for mission planning/support.
The Ohio Military Reserve as a whole consists of both able-bodied men and women from the state of Ohio, from the age of 17 to age 67. Forced retirement is age 67. To join, a person can be Age 17 to 60 upon entry. Each person must first attend basic training before going to their desired unit. Basic is waived for those that have prior military service. Basic consists of 3 consecutive monthly weekends. For example, a Sat/Sun in November, Sat/Sun in December and Sat/Sun in January. The primary goal of basic is to ensure everyone knows basic organizational structure, function, courtesies and the military way of doing things.
I hope that helps.
Mark (
thanat101@gmail.com)