The U.S. Marine Corps’ drone training program has finally been announced, and it’s far more impressive than I had anticipated.
They are rolling out a service-wide training framework aimed at rapidly expanding the number of small unmanned aircraft system operators for commercial off-the-shelf FPV platforms.
The program was announced via MARADMIN 624/25 and is being driven through the Marine Corps Training and Education Command (TECOM), with Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico acting as the interim headquarters.
At a high level, the Marine Corps drone training proposal is trying to solve a problem that every military (and honestly, every large organization) eventually runs into with drones: you can buy or adopt new systems quickly, but scaling safe, repeatable, standardized training across the force is the real bottleneck.
TECOM’s answer, similar to mine in a classroom, is a set of pilot courses and certifications for operators, payload specialists, (and instructors) across multiple different applications.
What the New Training Includes
Six pilot courses will allow new Marines to obtain a total of eight certificates, but a few key courses jumped out at me:
- Attack Drone Operator (AD-O): 15 training days (120 hours).
- Payload Specialist (PS): 5 training days (40 hours), focused on safe explosive handling and preparation of pre-fabricated warheads for lethal drones.
- Attack Drone Instructor (AD-I): 10 training days (80 hours), with requirements that include being certified as an operator and payload specialist, plus significant simulator time and live flight time.
- Attack Drone Leader (AD-L): 2 training days (16 hours), aimed at the people planning and integrating drones into the unit’s scheme of maneuver, including fire support plan integration and coordination with maneuver and fires.
The program has also introduced a “grandfathering” path, meaning Marines with existing qualifications can potentially earn certifications through an exception-to-policy profess instead of starting from the beginning.
Regional Hubs, and an Interim HQ at Quantico
To move fast, TECOM is not waiting for a single facility to do everything. MARADMIN 624/25 designates seven organizations as regional hubs that can immediately begin running the pilot courses, spanning major elements like 1st Marine Division, 2d Marine Division, III MEF, SOI-East, SOI-West, TECOM elements, and MARSOC.
Meanwhile, Weapons Training Battalion at marine Corps Base Quantico is the interim central hub. It is responsible for standardization, certification, and safety, and for consolidating lessons learned as the program scales.
How Will This Look in Practice?
According to TECOM and war.gov, the Neros Archer FPV platform will be one of the systems integrated into this large-scale effort.
The Marine Corps’ Attack Drone Competition has already been used as a proving ground for training and certification. War.gov notes that two recent competitions (National Capital Region and Okinawa) produced certified operators and instructors, and it cites additional certification support to the 22nd MEU in mid-November.
Separately, Marine Corps and DVIDS coverage from Okinawa frames these events as more than “cool drone stuff,” – and they should know; there were a few unauthorized flights in late 2024 in Okinawa that resulted in grounded flights. The competitions are explicitly about extending precision fires and building repeatable skill across units, with at least one official quote noting other branches participating to share tactics and lessons learned.
The Timeline is Aggressive: Hundreds Trained Next, then Fleet-Wide Capability
The Marine Corps Attack Drone Team, Weapons Training Battalion, and the regional hubs aim to certify hundreds more Marines over the next few months. The same source claims that by May 2026, infantry, reconnaissance battalions, and “littoral combat teams” across the Corps will be equipped to employ FPV attack drone capabilities.
The Industry Side: The Marines Are Hinting At Something…
If you want the clearest hint that this isn’t a temporary fad, look at what’s happening on the acquisition side.
Reporting from The War Zone highlights a Marine Corps market research push for large quantities of FPV-capable sUAS, including an emphasis on cost (sub-$4,000 per air vehicle) and the ability to scale production quickly. It makes me wonder how closely our officials are watching the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and adapting accordingly.
When a workforce moves from a few units to “several thousand,” it’s telling the supplier one thing: that product is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and it makes the domestic market think about large-scale manufacturing.
DroneXL’s Take
It’s great to see the Marines finally getting onboard with drones… cough every other branch cough.
The Marines get joked about all the time for having the worst gear, the worst facilities, and doing more with less. However, from a broader American-military standpoint, this is a promising signal: if even the Marines, who will happily go live in the mud for weeks, are making FPV drones a real training priority, then this technology is not going away.
Let me know in the comments below if you think they’re trending in the right direction, or if we’re already behind the curve.
