1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,680 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the best of Coast to Coast podcast. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: Become a Coast Insider to hear the rest of this 3 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: fascinating conversation and check out recent shows where we learned 4 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: about worrisome cases of wrongful convictions and unsettling rise in 5 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: cancer found in household pets, and mysterious radio births coming 6 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,319 Speaker 1: from deep in space. Head on over to Coast to 7 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: Coast a m dot com and sign up for Coast 8 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: Insider to start listening. Now here's a highlight from Coast 9 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: to Coast AM on iHeart Radio. Bret Vellakovich with US 10 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: Drone Warrior is his work now. He's a U. S. 11 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: Army veteran business executive Serbian. As a former Delta Intelligence 12 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: analyst for the U. S. Army, he participated in both 13 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Following his time 14 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: served in the military, he received an MBA from Duke University. 15 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: Focused his post army career on the commercial drone technology sector. 16 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: Bred scold is to share the benefits of drone technology 17 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: with all of us, and he dedicates his time and 18 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: so poared a humanitarian projects worldwide. Brett, I'm looking forward 19 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: to this. It's good to have you on the show. 20 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: Thanks for having me as well. The let's talk for 21 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: just a second about the drones that kids have, the 22 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: toy drones. Is that technology almost the same as this 23 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: drone that was found in South Korea that I just 24 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: mentioned before you came on, right, Well, it's definitely it's 25 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: not the same, but it's getting close. I gotta tell 26 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,119 Speaker 1: you one of the things that I do in UH 27 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: in my free times, I work a lot with consumer 28 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: and commercial drones, and so I have I can tell 29 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: you that the consumer drones that exist in the market today, 30 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: and they are just incredible. I mean, the technologies evolved 31 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: so far within the last just even a few months 32 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: alone that kids can get their hands on some pretty 33 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: incredible stuff. I'm talking about drones that have the ability 34 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: to fly thousands of feet in the air, they can 35 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: have high definition for K video cameras, they have the 36 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: ability to even sense and avoid obstacles, and so what 37 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: kids these days can get their hands on is pretty incredible. 38 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: And it's getting to the point where you know, nonstate 39 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: actors and organizations that may be able to use that 40 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: same technology for bad are essentially looking to use them 41 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: and could potentially use them for things that are are 42 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: not what you know the average kid wants to, which 43 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: is just to take some nice photos of themselves. You know, 44 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: these drones again on the on the toy usage are 45 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: pretty affordable now too, aren't they. Absolutely? I mean when 46 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: you look at how far getting the technology is coming, 47 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: that also means that there's more competition. I mean, I ideal, 48 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: you know, every every day with a new manufacturer that's 49 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: looking to have their drones sold, and so it really 50 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: creates this competition in the marketplace that is driving down 51 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: the cost of these things. And so for instance, uh, 52 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: you know you have you have drones that would have 53 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: would have been very expensive, you know, tens of thousands 54 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: of dollars of government US technology you can now buy 55 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: at a local hobby shop for a few your boss. 56 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: And now the application breadth for military usage, it's it's 57 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: way spread. And how big are some of these drones physically? 58 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: How big are they? So some of the consumer drones, 59 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: you mean the military ones, Well, so the military has 60 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: uh you know, their their pick of the litter, right, 61 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: they have everything. From when I was in we had 62 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: what was called the Raven, which is a handheld drone. 63 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: It's maybe three to four ft long. It was really 64 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: meant to go, you know, demand portable fit in the 65 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: soldier's backpack and then be able to throw up right 66 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: away and get kind of a lay of the land 67 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: in front of you. Is really meant to just see 68 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: what's what's beyond your horizon and it's uh and and 69 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: what the enemy was doing, you know, up upfront and personal. 70 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: And then you've got all these different levels in between, 71 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: all the way up to the ones that I primarily use, 72 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: which is what you know, the empty one Predator, which 73 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: is it's pretty long, you know, it's you know, we're 74 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: talking almost twenty feet roughly in length. I mean, these 75 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: are these are very big drones that you know, they 76 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: are meant to be able to stay in the air 77 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: for quite a bit of time and so uh withstand 78 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: the weather conditions that you may expect when you're up 79 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: in the air flying for quite since for quite some time. 80 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: Do they have drones that are the size of a 81 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: fly for example, It's interesting, Yeah, they always kind of 82 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: highlight that stuff in movies and they make like we've 83 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: got these real tiny drones, and yeah, we've seen those. 84 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: I mean, there there's a there's a helicopter, a little 85 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: tiny helicopter drone that might be fit in the palm 86 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: of your hand, but they're nowhere near at cable as 87 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: the larger ones. I mean, the larger ones, they need fuel, 88 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: they need a lot of different personnel to support their 89 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: launch and recovery and and enable them to do the thing. 90 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: But but they are looking I mean, that's the evolution 91 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: right there, is getting smaller and smaller. But I've I've 92 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: seen one about the size of a quarter. But now 93 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: we're we're not really talking about government you know, you know, 94 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: secret technology, but they're trying to get they're trying to 95 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: get to that point and that that is where this 96 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: evolution of the drone industry is going. Is smaller, smaller 97 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: drones that have great cameras and that can fly a 98 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: significant amount of distance. And so we may we very 99 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: uh well may see the day when we've got a tiny, 100 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: really tiny fly like drone that's able to do some 101 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: incredible things. Now you've spent a lot of time in Iraq. 102 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: Are we using lots of drones in Afghanistan and Iraq 103 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: right now? Yes, we're using drones all over the place. 104 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: I mean, just over the course of the last decade, 105 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: the military is really found, um that drone technology is 106 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: one of the things that saving so many American lives. 107 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: And so when you when you see that, there's there 108 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: was this push from you know, the different administrations that 109 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: really get to make this technology more readily available. So 110 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: when I talked earlier about this smaller raven drone, I 111 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: remember the first time I saw that that was a big, 112 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: big deal for people to to get those things. And 113 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: now you really don't see many operations, especially um, you know, 114 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: the larger operations that take place that don't have a 115 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: drone either flying overhead before, during, or after the mission. 116 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: And that tells you how important it is to protecting 117 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: you know, these American military folks that are over there. 118 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: The missiles that some of these drones will carry are 119 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: capable of doing what Brent well, they're capable of basically 120 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: hitting a car and not scuffing the pain around it. 121 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: I mean, they're they're very, very accurate, and they're especially 122 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: more accurate because there's been an importance place I'm ensuring 123 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: that no outside innocent people are getting hurt from the 124 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: collateral you know, damn, I mean the damage that that 125 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: takes place from and so that makes the missiles more 126 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: and more precise, and the importance is heavily placed on 127 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: ensuring you're hitting the target that you're going after. You're 128 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: if you're going after an individual or a vehicle or 129 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: a compound, that that miss all that is being used 130 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: is incredibly precise and so, uh, you know, they can 131 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: really do some incredible things. I saw a movie. It's 132 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: a couple of years old, and I think it might 133 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: have been on Amazon where the military was. It was. 134 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: The movie was based on drone operators for the military, 135 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: and I think they were in Iraq or Afghanistan, and 136 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: it was The Life. It was a drama movie and 137 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: it was based on the life of these drone operators. 138 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: And there was this one guy, the star of the movie, 139 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: who was really getting upset with his job because what 140 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: he would do was he was the one who would 141 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: fire off the missile from the drone and kill the 142 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: Iraqi or the afghan or the ISIS person or the 143 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: al Qaeda, and in some cases, you know, he would 144 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: they would be able to and I'm going to ask 145 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: you about the satellite imagery with this, but they would 146 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: look at some of the people and they were women, 147 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: kids and he was looking at the one case where 148 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: the drone was flying over a woman and a kid, 149 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: and the kid was ready to pick up some kind 150 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: of weapon, and he's he's just praying to God that 151 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: the kid doesn't pick it up because he doesn't want 152 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: to blow him up. Uh, you know when he ended 153 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: up firing the missile. At that's going on. That's real, 154 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: isn't it. Look there, there are a lot of decisions 155 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: that have to be made in weighed um in these 156 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: cases because we're dealing with humans and and sometimes no 157 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,679 Speaker 1: one goes into this wanting to hurt innocent people. And 158 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: you're gonna see that when you know, when people read 159 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: my book Drone Warrior, they're going to see these decisions 160 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: that are being made in these gut wretch calls that 161 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: have to be that have to be made very quickly, 162 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: and you have to weigh these decisions. But I gotta 163 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: tell you, whenever an innocent person is hurt, it's it's 164 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: very rare, first of all, And I know the media 165 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: likes to kind of play it up like it happens 166 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: a lot more than it actually does. But when when 167 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: it does happen, it is it's devastating to guys like me. 168 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: It's devastating to the people around us, and um, we 169 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: keeps us up at night and to keep it. But 170 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: at the same time, you've got to realize that the 171 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: people were going after I mean, these are the worst 172 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: of the worst. These aren't people that just stole a 173 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: pack of gum from the grocery store. I mean, these 174 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 1: the individuals we are hunting have been responsible for tens 175 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: of thousands of killings of innocent people. They're they're coming 176 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: for us here in the US, and um, we can't 177 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: let that happen. And so a lot of people always 178 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: like to talk about these casualty and how many how 179 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,839 Speaker 1: many innocent people were killed? And you know, how many 180 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 1: bad guys did you kill? And very rarely do people 181 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: ask us how many lives? Do we say? You know? 182 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: And and that's the importance here, And I want to 183 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: make it clear, you know, my my job was not 184 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: to hold the trigger. I'm not. I wasn't the drone pilot. 185 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: I wasn't the the operator on the ground that's pulling 186 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: the actual trigger that's shooting the terror and the head. 187 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: My job was to basically tell those guys where the 188 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: terrorist is located and utilize the drone to actually hunt 189 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: and fight. Where were you were you on the ground 190 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: looking at the spot. Yes, so I was deployed. I 191 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 1: would deploy in the field and I would get very 192 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: close to the fight because I needed to be as 193 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: close to the action as possible, you know, so I 194 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: would be set up and we talked about in the 195 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: book that you know, these this essentially what's called the box, 196 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,559 Speaker 1: which is this operational hub where we are UM managing drones, 197 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 1: were managing intelligence personnel. We're we're assisting UM, you know, 198 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 1: the guys on the ground that are going kicking down 199 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: the doors to capture, you know, capture and kill folks 200 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: in My job specifically was to pull together all this 201 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: intelligence information and then use that to drive my decisions 202 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: on who we should hunt. And so once I figured out, listen, 203 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 1: we need to go after this individual in the Islamic 204 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: state of Iraq because he might have information that can 205 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: lead us to the number one and number two guys, 206 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: then it was my job to find them. And the 207 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: way I did that was through you know, stacking multiple 208 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: drones on an area, following vehicles and people and watching 209 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: watching these guys, you know, all day long, and when 210 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: you watch someone you know day after day, you really see, 211 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: imagine all the things that people do when they don't 212 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: realize they're being watched. It's it's incredible to the things 213 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 1: we saw and and and it was incredible to kind 214 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: of have that, you know, I in the sky, that 215 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: all that unblinking eye that allows us to see the 216 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: things people don't want us to Listen to more Coast 217 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: to Coast AM every weeknight at one a m. Eastern 218 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: and go to Coast to Coast am dot com for more.