On July 7, Charlotte-based Lucid Bots became the latest autonomous company to support Vets to Drones in transitioning military service members into the commercial drone industry.
“Veterans bring discipline, precision and mission focus—exactly what it takes to run a successful drone cleaning operation,” said Matt Lowen, Sr., alliance manager at Lucid, whose Sherpa Drone specializes in cleaning buildings. “Vets to Drones is building an exceptional pipeline of certified pilots and we’re proud to be part of the infrastructure that helps them build real businesses when they come home.”
Founded in 2023, Vets to Drones now provides free FAA Part 107 certification training, and also advanced training in mapping, public safety, infrastructure inspection, agriculture, NIST-standard flight education, mentorship and job placement.
“The transition out of service is hard and the hardest part is often just finding direction,” said Vets to Drones founder and CEO Chris Lewis. “Partnering with Lucid Bots gives our members a concrete path forward into an in-demand field where the drive they built in uniform carries straight into commercial work.”
Taking Off
Lewis and two colleagues explained the framework and evolution of the Raleigh, North Carolina-based 501(c)(3). Lewis led off. “Our five core missions are workforce development, K-12 STEM gateway [bringing drones into classrooms], disaster response, conservation and recreational therapy. We have an online curriculum that veterans have free access to. We verify their status; they get their Part 107 curriculum. It’s all self-paced but it’s very in-depth.” Post-107 training unlocks other modules, and grads can plug into a national network of industry and academic partners, as well as “enterprise members”—businesses owned and operated by V2D brethren.
Lewis’ own path took him from the Marines through college on the GI Bill. Unfortunately, graduation crashed into COVID. “I was like, ‘Oh, what the hell do I do now—the world’s on fire.” When he found drone work around power lines and mapping, he brought veterans along informally. Vets to Drones followed in 2023.
With Lewis was Jon Shawhan, CEO of AcreWatch (formerly Midwest Drones) and a V2D partner. As he tired of being a software engineer working inside an office, the Navy veteran “fell in love” with flying drones. “I stated searching around for training opportunities and that’s when I came across Vets to Drones. I got my Part 107 and became a member. Quitting his desk job and starting his company followed.
Shawhan’s gone to Vets to Drones events and assisted with training. In turn, Vets to Drones has provided pilots and opened doors to possible clients.
The third amigo was Ben Poulin, V2D’s director of operations. “I’m not a veteran, probably the one of the 4,000 or so members that isn’t,” Poulin said. “I come to this from public education.” His turn toward V2D came about during 2024’s Hurricane Helene. He was running a drone training program at a community college in North Carolina and when the storm struck, Lewis reached out: “Hey, you guys have drones at the college; we could use drones in the mountains.
Soon, Poulin “got in the truck, brought a bunch of drones and spent a couple of weeks there.” He came away liking how drone work moved faster than public ed and joined V2D this March. “I brought a lot of curriculum background and built a lot of the curriculum for training.” A recent manufacturing module backgrounded veterans involved in a training with Skydio.
Shawhan put a bow on Vets to Drones’ value. “They’ve not just provided me with training,” he said. “They’ve provided me camaraderie and have helped me put money in my pocket. Not a lot of organizations do that.”
