Texas A&M-RELLIS And USI Expand Drone Workforce Training Across Texas

Texas A&M-RELLIS and the Unmanned Safety Institute are expanding professional drone and UAS instruction in Texas, and the useful signal is not just that another training option exists. It is that the commercial drone workforce problem is becoming more structured. Employers do not only need people who can pass a written test. They need operators, maintainers and supervisors who can work inside regulated, documented and increasingly automated drone programs.

The Texas A&M-RELLIS announcement says the partnership is designed to expand access to professional drone and unmanned aircraft systems instruction across the state. RELLIS framed the program around workforce demand in package delivery, energy, agriculture, construction, public safety, infrastructure and defense, all sectors where drones are moving from pilot projects into repeatable operations.

What The Partnership Adds

RELLIS says USI programs at the campus include in-person FAA Part 107 exam preparation, a Professional Remote Operator certification program, a Professional Maintenance Technician certification program and advanced skills development for complex remote operations, including BVLOS. Current USI registration pages also show concrete enrollment details for the Texas A&M-RELLIS location, including a 12-week Fast Track program and two-day Part 107 workshops.

That combination matters. Part 107 preparation gets a pilot into the legal operating system, but it does not automatically make someone ready to maintain aircraft, manage inspection data, support a docked drone program or document a complex job for a client. The training stack is starting to look more like a workforce pathway than a single exam-prep product.

Part 107 Is The Floor, Not The Ceiling

The FAA's remote pilot guidance makes the Part 107 baseline clear. A commercial remote pilot needs an FAA Tracking Number, a knowledge test path or eligible Part 61 path, and ongoing recency training. The knowledge areas include regulations, airspace, weather, loading and performance, emergency procedures, crew resource management and maintenance and preflight inspection procedures.

Those requirements are important, but they are still a floor. A construction progress program needs repeatable capture plans and client deliverables. An energy inspection program needs maintenance records, sensor discipline and site coordination. A public safety program needs incident command integration and documentation. Training programs that connect the certificate to those operating realities are more useful than programs that stop at the test.

Why BVLOS Training Shows Up In Workforce Planning

BVLOS is a useful example because it is not just a flight skill. It requires planning, airspace awareness, equipment assumptions, contingency procedures, detect-and-avoid thinking and records that survive review. Aerosyne covered the regulatory side in our recent look at FAA BVLOS rulemaking and Part 108 preparation. The workforce side is the next question: who is trained to operate inside that framework once the rule path matures?

That is why advanced skills development belongs next to Part 107 and maintenance training. A company that wants to move from small visual-line-of-sight jobs into infrastructure corridors, industrial sites or distributed field operations needs people who understand both the aircraft and the operating case.

Texas Is A Practical Test Market

The RELLIS announcement quotes USI CEO Josh Olds describing Texas as a leader in UAS testing and advanced air mobility research. Even if an operator is not based in Texas, the state is a useful case study because it connects universities, workforce partners, public agencies and commercial users in one market.

Texas A&M's own UAS guidance is also a reminder that campus and institutional operations are compliance-heavy. The university's UAS flight approval guidance points to Part 107 rules, aircraft registration, airspace approval, preflight inspection and documentation. That is the environment a serious workforce program has to prepare students and employers to navigate.

What Operators Should Take From This

For commercial drone companies, the takeaway is straightforward. Hiring only for basic stick skill is not enough. Job descriptions should separate remote pilot duties, maintenance responsibilities, data workflow, client reporting and advanced operations planning. Training budgets should do the same.

For employers, the RELLIS and USI partnership is a signal to ask sharper questions of candidates and vendors. Can the operator explain Part 107 limits? Can they document maintenance and preflight checks? Can they work inside a site approval process? Can they support a path toward BVLOS or automated operations without treating it as a slogan?

Drone workforce development is becoming less about finding people who like aircraft and more about preparing people to run professional aviation-adjacent workflows. That is a healthier direction for the industry, and it is the part of the Texas A&M-RELLIS and USI announcement that operators should watch most closely.