Dirk Giles

Dirk Giles has served as a wildland firefighter, land manager, and an aviation management specialist for twenty-five years with the Department of Interior and now the US Forest Service.  Dirks’ career in operations started on a Hotshot crew in Nevada and then Alaska with the Midnight Sun and Chena Hotshots.  He moved into management at the Alaska Fire Service as Chief of the Fire Specialist Section and then Assistant Fire Management Officer for the Military Zone where he was introduced to unmanned technologies.  Dirk was appointed as the National UAS Program Manager in 2018 and was tasked with the responsibility of building the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program for the US Forest Service. The US Forest Service has made significant UAS programmatic investments internally and externally.  Additionally, a substantial amount of time has been dedicated to formalizing operational standards, UAS airworthiness requirements leveraging ASTM International standards, as well as publishing Remote Pilot Certification Standards for the agency that clearly identify minimum requirements to industry, our partners, and our cooperators.  Dirk, his staff, and the US Forest Service are passionate about leveraging UAS and emerging technologies through standardized processes to ensure mission safety through effective coordination, communication, and deconfliction.  These standardized systems fundamentally introduce a new conversation within risk management and ultimately risk acceptance for the normalized hazardous activities that employees face on a routine basis.