JIATF-401 Expands Counter-Drone Training, Bolsters Homeland Defense

As small unmanned aircraft systems become cheaper, more accessible and increasingly weaponized, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 is expanding its efforts to strengthen the military’s ability to counter the growing threat at installations in the United States and abroad.

“Unmanned systems are a defining threat of our time,” said Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, task force director. “Drones are prolific, inexpensive, evolving quickly and increasingly accessible to nonstate actors and individuals.”

At the center of the effort to train the joint force for this growing threat is the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft System University at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a critical component of JIATF-401. The university develops and validates counter-UAS curriculum for the War Department and serves as the task force’s hub for instruction, mobile training teams and technical integration.

Rather than focusing solely on individual operators, the university is shifting to a train-the-trainer model designed to multiply expertise across the force. JCU students will now receive advanced training and return to their units to build local capability, reducing reliance on centralized courses and accelerating the spread of counter-UAS knowledge. The university will continue to offer its counter-UAS planner’s course to support the protection of installations and other defense critical infrastructure.

Ross said the approach is intended to create a sustainable training ecosystem as drone threats continue to evolve.

That philosophy was recently put into practice in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Indo-Pacific region that serves as a key hub for American military operations. JCU instructors deployed to the island to provide hands-on, counter-UAS training to Task Force Talon and Guam National Guard Security Forces, working alongside base defense forces to integrate detection and mitigation procedures into routine security operations.

“Our mission is to ensure every warfighter has the skills to defend their post, wherever that may be,” Ross said. “We must recognize that the homeland extends beyond the continental United States; defending Guam is defending the homeland.”

While new sensors and mitigation systems remain important, Ross emphasized that “Hardware alone is not sufficient. We need to train service members and work in concert with interagency partners and local law enforcement to ensure that we’re all pulling together to accomplish the same mission.”

Building full capability also requires clearly defined authorities, rules of engagement, sustainment plans, maintenance support and integration into daily operations.

Army Lt. Col. John Peterson, JCU director, said instructors are adapting curriculum to reflect emerging threats and operational lessons learned.

“Whether it’s in a classroom at Fort Sill or on an airfield in Guam, our job is to support JIATF-401′s priorities,” Peterson said. “We are improving joint force training to ensure our service members have the skills they need to defend every inch of the homeland.”

Through forward deployments and its evolving training model, JIATF-401 aims to deliver more than equipment. Ross noted that the goal is to build enduring counter-drone capability across the joint force — from installations in the continental United States to strategic outposts in the Indo-Pacific region — ensuring service members are prepared to detect, disrupt and defeat one of the fastest-growing threats in modern warfare.