The Expertise Behind
Your Program.
Red Raven was founded to provide both the strategic guidance to build your UAS program and the field-tested training to make it successful.
OUR MISSION.
Red Raven was born from the front lines of America's busiest emergency operations. Our founder spent 35 years with the LAFD and helped build one of the nation's first major fire department drone programs — not in a classroom, but in the field, under pressure, where the stakes were real. That experience is the foundation of everything we do. We exist to help agencies, businesses, and pilots build drone programs that work when it matters most.
Founded by a
Public Safety Veteran
Our founder, Derrick Ward, is a 35-year fire service veteran and public safety UAS pioneer. At the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD)—one of the world’s largest fire departments—he helped lead the department’s UAS (drone) program as LAFD became the first major U.S. fire department to integrate drones into real-world emergency operations. Red Raven is built on those hard-earned lessons, not theory.
WHAT WE STAND FOR.
We believe drones—used with skill, judgment, and standards—save time, money, and lives. Red Raven exists to help agencies, businesses, and individual pilots harness that power responsibly through certification, training, and programs built to last.
Real-World
Training
Our instruction mirrors the pressures of real-world operations. We focus on practical, scenario-based training to build the muscle memory and sound decision-making skills that teams need to perform when it matters most.
Unbiased
Guidance
Our guidance is vendor-neutral and tailored to your goals, risk profile, and budget—whether you’re building a department program or setting up your own professional operation. We don’t sell hardware, our only objective is to help you make smart, defensible decisions.
Culture of
Safety
Safety and compliance are non-negotiable. We embed FAA standards and airtight SOPs into every program we touch, ensuring your operations are not just effective, but also defensible and audit-ready.
OUR
LEADERSHIP
Decades of frontline public safety, brand, and solution experience. This is the team that builds your program.
DERRICK
WARD
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Founder
Derrick brings 35 years of high-stakes, real-world public safety experience to Red Raven. As a pioneer of the LAFD's UAS program — one of the nation's first and largest fire department drone programs — he has seen firsthand what it takes to succeed under pressure. As Program Director and Lead Trainer, he leads program development and on-site training, building the SOPs, policy, and operational standards that keep teams safe, compliant, and ready for any mission.
MICHAEL
WILSON
DIRECTOR OF BRAND
Founder
Michael specializes in making the complex simple — turning complicated processes into clear, actionable workflows that anyone can follow. As a former Director at DJI and with deep roots in the drone industry, he co-built Red Raven's Part 107 Course and Guidebook with Derrick. At Red Raven, he leads brand strategy and content development, ensuring Red Raven's expertise is always communicated in a way that's direct, accessible, and built for action.
Marc
Flamm
LEAD INSTRUCTOR
Training & Deployment
Marc brings over a decade of UAS experience supporting some of the nation's largest public safety and enterprise drone programs through DJI, Skydio, and Enterprise UAS. At Red Raven, he leads hands-on training alongside Derrick — translating proven workflows into practical flight skills, mission execution, and real-world decision-making. His focus is training the most effective pilots starting from day one.
Let’s Get Your Team
Mission-Ready
Now that you know our story, we'd like to hear yours. Let's discuss your organization's goals and how our experience can help you succeed.