The 69th Drone Detachment

The Story behind the 69^th Snowboard Detachment (Airborne)

When I was in Iraq, pretty much every flight area had a waiting area (or at least a semi-shelter surrounded by concrete blast barriers). On these walls and barriers were written the logos and names of units passing through…1^st Cav, 2/43 Infantry, 1st Marine Division, etc. Well, I wasn’t assigned to a particular unit, so I decided to make my own unit and logo. And so from Baghdad to Balad, Tikrit to Tal-Afar I wrote down 69^th Snowboard Detachment (Airborne). I thought it would be funny. I even made a little logo I could draw quickly in Sharpie.

When I was in Afghanistan, it was the same thing…with no real unit (except the good ole 69^th). So from Kandahar to Kabul, Bagram to Barak, I added the 69^th logo. I even had some (desert tan) T-Shirts made when I came home on leave. It was kinda my private joke, and I often smiled at the thought of my logo all over South West Asia. I wondered how long those logos lasted, and if anyone really thought there was actually a detachment of bad-asses out there, doing missions on snowboards. It made me smile, when sometimes a smile was as rare (and precious) as gold or cold water.

So naturally, when I had to make a name for my YouTube channel about drones, 69^th snowboard detachment came to mind. I of course modified it to 69^th drone detachment, and changed the logo accordingly.

So far, I haven’t flown my drone from Denver to Durango, Ward to Walden (Colorado), but I am working on it. And as I fly (just as I traveled ‘over there’), the logo (and name) will grow on me.

It may not be the best ‘drone brand’ (the name may make people think I’m one of those steely-eyed drone killers they see on documentaries), but heck, it’s mine. And I like that.

So that’s my story. I’m not part of some secret USAF or CIA group, typing blogs to amuse his self between Reaper killings. I’m just some guy learning to be a pilot (an ongoing, lifelong process, or so they say). I’m a detachment of one, and air force of one. I’m detached, too…the places I want to fly and film are far away from other people and aircraft (minimizes problems, in my experience). So yeah, 69^th Snowboard Detachment, that’s me. Pleased to meetcha.

See ya out there in the skies.