More than 200,000 service members leave active duty each year and begin adjusting to civilian life. Finding a new career can be a difficult part of that transition.
Vets to Drones, a nonprofit that trains veterans for work in the drone industry, aims to make that next step easier.
The organization was started by Marine Corps veteran Chris Lewis after he returned from California, where he had helped with wildfire mitigation. He understood the challenge of leaving military life and trying to figure out what came next.
“I ended up right back in the civilian world, searching for answers, I guess,” Lewis said.
Drone skills offer a route into wildfire response
Lewis had worked with drones briefly during a deployment, but came to see broader opportunities in unmanned aircraft systems. He founded Vets to Drones with a fellow Marine, who died in 2022. The loss made Lewis even more determined to help other veterans through the organization.
He sees the drone industry as a natural fit for former service members, whose experience in the field and infantry can often carry over to civilian work.
Vets to Drones has become a source of trained workers for the industry. It also gives veterans a chance to find new purpose and community after military service.
A Marine builds a new career in disaster recovery
After leaving the military, Marine veteran Dusty Lopez worked in disaster recovery and insurance before starting a business focused on insurance claims and assessments.
He met Vets to Drones at an event after clients began asking whether he had drones available for certain jobs. The meeting led to a partnership with his company, Struction Solutions.
“I still live by the Marine Corps motto: honor, courage, and commitment,” Lopez said. He added that his time in the service helped shape his career afterward.
Lopez now has nearly a dozen drones for different types of work. One large tethered model, often used by law enforcement and emergency responders for surveillance, can remain in the air for days.
Veterans train for work across multiple industries
Vets to Drones trains veterans around the country, helping them earn FAA commercial drone certification and pursue jobs in a range of fields.
According to Lewis, participants have supported search-and-rescue efforts, assisted farmers, helped first responders during natural disasters and contributed to security operations.
After Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana, Lewis said the team created a 360-degree view of the affected area, similar to Google Earth, but “from the sky with the drone.”
Vets to Drones now has close to 8,000 members, and hundreds have earned commercial drone pilot licenses.
“It’s an incredible feeling when I get that phone call that says, ‘Hey, man, thank you. I had no idea this was a thing. And now I’m able to feed my family with this new skill,’” Lewis said.
