Alabama Shield is a UAH-led UAS disaster response exercise taking place the week of August 3, 2026, at the UAH Huntsville Test Range. The event is designed to bring together first responders, public safety agencies, UAS teams, military, academia, and industry partners to strengthen disaster response readiness through hands-on training, operational coordination, and realistic scenario-based missions.

The exercise will include training lanes focused on missing-person SAR, flooding, mapping, HAZMAT, communications, mission planning, data processing, and more. The schedule will also include presentations by subject matter experts, government officials, and industry partners who will share lessons learned, practical tactics, and real-world experience with drones in disaster response and operational environments.

This is a great opportunity to build relationships across agencies, improve coordination, develop practical UAS response skills, and better understand how UAS can support real-world emergency operations. We are also actively pursuing continuing education credits for participants.