DORGAN TO CO-HOST UNMANNED AIRCRAFT ACTION SUMMIT AT UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Thursday, April 30, 2009
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) announced today that the need for pilot training and the direction of America’s unmanned aircraft industry will be among the topics on the minds of experts from around the country who will gather at the 2009 Unmanned Aircraft Systems Action Summit on May 27 and May 28 at the University of North Dakota.
Senator Dorgan is hosting the Action Summit along with the Red River Valley Research Corridor, the UND Center for UAS Research and Education and the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The May 27 session will be held at the Alerus Center. The May 28 session will be held at Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Senator Dorgan is convening experts in unmanned aircraft systems from around the nation to discuss the future of the industry at the Action Summit. Keynote speakers will include two of the U.S. military’s top experts in UAS technology – Lt. Gen. Harry “Bud” Wyatt, Director of the Air National Guard; and Maj. Gen. Henry “Hank” Morrow, Commander of the 1st Air Force and the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region.
“Grand Forks and the Red River Valley are becoming a well-known hub of unmanned aircraft activity,” Dorgan said. “I’ve invited experts from around the country to this Action Summit to give us an opportunity to host a conversation on what is happening in this industry and where it’s headed in the future.”
In 2005, Senator Dorgan, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured federal funding to create a Center for Defense UAV Education at UND to help transform the region into a hub of unmanned aircraft activity. Dorgan also worked with Senator Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy to persuade the Air Force to bring a new UAS mission to the Red River Valley, and to secure a Northern Border Air Wing branch mission, which includes unmanned aircraft that patrol the U.S.-Canada border, for Grand Forks.
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