Camp Foster Marines Conduct First Skydio Flight

Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan — Earlier this month, U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, conducted their first official flight of the new Skydio small Unmanned Aircraft System on Camp Foster. The lightweight, highly capable system is part of a new generation of reconnaissance tools designed to make Marines faster, better informed, and more adaptable on the battlefield.

“sUAS has developed into a much higher priority element of our planning and execution of operations throughout the first island chain, where mobility is at a premium,” said 1st Lt. James Devito, an intelligence officer with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.

The U.S. Marine Corps is rapidly expanding its use of sUAS, marking a major step forward in modernizing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities across the force. The sUAS was once viewed as a small asset, but now they are emerging as indispensable tools in support of operational demands across the Indo-Pacific.

Not only does this milestone symbolize a technological advance, but it also demonstrates a broader shift in how 3rd Marine Division prepares for future conflict. The integration of these systems into intelligence collection plans allow Marines to build a more complete picture of the operational environment, even in remote or contested areas.

“sUAS are an extremely versatile asset in the fire’s community. Local security, reconnaissance, and movement support are natural missions that sUAS are often tasked to support,” said Devito. “More importantly, however, is where sUAS fits into the targeting cycle. Integrated into an intelligence collections plan, sUAS are an ideal asset to task with finding, fixing, tracking and ultimately assessing the effects of fires.”

The Marine Corps is refining training programs to teach operators how to troubleshoot systems, adapt to new scenarios, and fully exploit the capabilities of the platform. Marines in the course described early challenges from configuration issues to learning new software, but they emphasized that each hurdle improved the program’s overall proficiency.

The first flight at Camp Foster may have lasted only minutes, but Marines said the training’s impact will resonate for years to come.