Marine Aviator Of The Year A Drone Pilot

The Marine Corps' top pilot for 2024 never leaves the ground. For the first time, a drone pilot, Maj. Shane Gentry, has been named the Corps' Marine Aviator of the Year. He was also named recipient of the Alfred A. Cunningham Award by the Marine Corp Aviation Association. Gentry is a member of the Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 and has flown the RQ-21, RQ-7 B and MQ-9A. "It’s a great honor, it’s humbling—absolutely pioneering for the Marine Corps unmanned community,” he told USNI News.

Gentry said he chose drones after graduation 10 years ago because they were the "most deployed" units. He said since he began, drones have become increasingly important to operations of all kinds. “We’re not coming to take like manned aviation jobs,” he said. “If anything, we’re enhancing lethality of the aviation enterprise. We’re enhancing survivability of the manned aircraft, we’re enhancing their roles and duties in aviation. So we are an enhancing aspect of Marine Corps aviation."