Tanner Yackley · MQ-9 instruction & evaluation

Operational instruction. Evaluation. Human performance.

Former USAF MQ-9 Reaper Instructor and Evaluator and General Atomics Evaluator, focused on how people learn, decide, and supervise complex remote systems.

Tanner Yackley standing in front of an MQ-9 Reaper inside a hangar.
Tanner Yackley · MQ-9 Reaper operational background
Central thesis · Practitioner perspective

The human demands behind the mission.

In my operational experience, aircraft capability alone did not resolve the demands of maintaining context, managing attention, coordinating crews, and deciding under uncertainty. I see those human demands as central to instruction and evaluation, not as evidence that the aircraft could never be a limitation.

Operational experience does not establish named construct origins. Sky Smith’s reconstruction, quality, and recovery concepts remain attributed to her; my upstream continuity inquiry and Representation Stewardship remain provisional and adjacent, with prior-art and provenance review open.

Research scope & provenance
Record of service

Experience, at a glance.

Military

Former USAF MQ-9 Reaper Instructor & Evaluator.

Industry

Former General Atomics Evaluator.

University

Former Assistant Professor.

Author & founder

The Reaper’s Shadow author; Remote Warrior founder.

Expertise & selected work

From debrief to instructional improvement.

My approach uses structured debrief analysis to examine focal decisions, identify recurring lessons and performance trends, and translate observations into specific instructional fixes.

  1. Debrief

    Examine decisions, context, and crew coordination.

  2. Lessons & trends

    Identify recurring patterns and instructional needs.

  3. Instructional fixes

    Refine training priorities, scenarios, and feedback.

The three training examples are illustrative methods, not claims of client implementation or measured efficacy.

Explore the training examples

Selected appearances

Business Insider · USA Today · AFCEA · UAS Summit & Expo

Media kit & appearances
Separate organizational home

Remote Warrior

Remote Warrior logo

Remote Warrior is a separate organization I founded for the remote-operations community, preserving practitioner knowledge through writing, conversations, and resources.

Visit Remote Warrior
Contact

Start a conversation.

For instruction, evaluation, writing, or speaking inquiries.

Contact Tanner