Digital Service Academy

An Onward Network initiative · Training & Staffing Pipeline

Command the Future of Digital Infrastructure

Equipping military veterans with the technical credentials and field training required to operate advanced municipal networks, creating a localized, veteran-led safety net for communities nationwide.

The progression · six tiers

Silver wingsThree tiers, earned in the simulator
Gold wingsThree tiers, earned in the field

Mission

The Human Engine for Advanced Technology

The Digital Service Academy (DSA), an Onward Network initiative with its own board of directors, is the dedicated training and staffing pipeline supporting the Onward ecosystem. We transform military experience into high-tech civilian readiness. By graduating credentialed operators, DSA ensures that municipalities and institutional partners can deploy complex digital infrastructure, from drone safety networks to 5G health connectivity, without the administrative friction of building new workforces from scratch.

Airspace Safety Operators train on Gizmatrix, an Onward Network product.

As a Gaming Network Operator™, Onward Network builds the game-based, simulated training DSA operators learn on.

Track B · Airspace Safety Operators · Try the job

Practice round: four calls

A fire department drone is flying a mission inside the operating area. You watch the shared airspace picture and make the calls an operator makes. The round is scored the way the course scores it: hold well clear, then confirm the avoidance maneuver.

Simulated training

Simulated training: an operating area ringed by Picket nodes, with air traffic and an advisory on an unidentified track.SIMULATED TRAINING · SIMULATED DATA

Briefing

The ring of Picket nodes around the operating area is the Picket Line. Everything the nodes sense lands in one shared airspace picture. You don’t fly anything. You read the picture and tell the remote pilot what’s coming.

  1. Call 1 of 4 · Shared picture

    Three aircraft are in the operating area: two delivery UAS broadcasting Remote ID, and a crewed helicopter broadcasting ADS-B.

    What does Remote ID give you?

    Right call Identification: which aircraft it is, and who is accountable for it

    Right. Remote ID is a compliance and identification tool. It is not a source for navigation or for keeping aircraft separated.

  2. Call 2 of 4 · Track

    A new track appears. Radar and acoustic sensors see it, but it broadcasts nothing.

    How do you classify it?

    Right call Unidentified, non-cooperative traffic. Keep tracking it.

    Right. It shows up only on ground sensors, so it is unidentified and non-cooperative. Keep it in the picture.

  3. Call 3 of 4 · Advisory

    The unidentified track is closing on the fire department’s drone mission.

    What do you send the remote pilot?

    Right call An advisory: traffic approaching, with its position

    Right. The alert is advisory, not regulatory. Your job is to get it to the pilot in time.

  4. Call 4 of 4 · Pilot decides

    The pilot reports a loiter and descend to let the traffic pass.

    What is your next call?

    Right call Confirm the avoidance maneuver and keep the track updated

    Right. Confirming the avoidance maneuver is what the course scores. The remote pilot in command “is directly responsible for and is the final authority as to the operation” (14 CFR 107.19(b)).

Pass mark for this round: 3 of 4, with the avoidance confirmation. A training result, not an FAA certification or rating.

Run the full scenario ↗

Track B · Progression

Silver wings, then gold

Silver tiers are earned in the simulator, at your own pace. Gold tiers are earned in the field, counted in logged hours.

Silver wings

Phase 1 · Simulator

Tier 1 · Basic Gizmat Operator

Complete the baseline scenarios. Covers the equivalent of the FAA Part 107 Aeronautical Knowledge Test curriculum.

Tier 2 · GIZMAT Controller

Master detect-and-avoid encounters: hold well clear and confirm the avoidance maneuver.

Requires passing the FAA Part 107 exam and holding a Remote Pilot Certificate. This is the credential the placement model is built around.

Tier 3 · GIZMAT Master Instructor

Sustain top scores across congested scenarios and complete the Advanced Controller Course. Graduates evaluate, mentor and design scenarios.

Gold wings

Phase 2 · Field · logged hours

Basic Gold · Live Field Operator

Earned through logged hours as an operator in the field.

Gold Controller · Shift Leader

Earned through logged hours leading a shift on the watch floor.

Gold Master · Check Airman

Earned through logged hours instructing junior operators in the field, modeled on the airline check airman standard.

Roles the placement model is built around

DAA Override Controller

Watches the fused radar and Remote ID picture and issues avoidance advisories to remote pilots.

Tier 2 GIZMAT Controller + Part 107 certificate

Tactical Network Operator

Staffs the watch floor. Monitors network health, sensor telemetry and connectivity.

Required tier: coming soon

Field / Network Technician

Installs and maintains the radar poles, edge nodes and transport hardware on site.

Required tier: coming soon

With RecruitMilitary as the Employer of Record, the program can staff credentialed operators onto municipal contracts. All tiers are training credentials, not an FAA certification or rating.

Curriculum · Select a track

Specialized Certification Tracks

Track A

Digital Health & Connectivity Guides

Equipping veterans to manage and support the massive rollout of 5G smartphones and eSIMs in partnership with the VA.

  1. 01Community Engagement Boards (CEBs)
  2. 02eSIM provisioning & secure endpoint management
  3. 03Patient-physician telehealth platform troubleshooting
  4. 04Upstream risk screening & rapid VA healthcare routing
  5. 05Proactive suicide prevention digital tools

Placement

Localized community sponsors ensuring distributed hardware translates into a functioning lifeline.

Practice round and tiers: coming soon

Track B

Airspace Safety Operators

Train to become the turnkey workforce required to monitor municipal airspace and alert remote pilots to nearby traffic so they can keep safe separation, for government and commercial drone operations.

  1. 01Radar & acoustic sensor monitoring
  2. 02Zero-trust cybersecurity protocols
  3. 03Digital Twin simulated environments: live, virtual and constructive (LVC)

Placement

Graduates can be placed on local municipal contracts, with RecruitMilitary as the Employer of Record.

Try the practice round
Track C

VVAN Infrastructure Specialists

Training personnel to support the enterprise-level deployment of the Veteran Verified Network for major institutional and telecommunication partners.

  1. 01Enterprise-grade 5G network prioritization
  2. 02T-Priority network slicing administration
  3. 03Management of verified digital communities
  4. 04Institutional partner account administration

Placement

Technical account managers and system administrators scaling national digital ecosystems.

Practice round and tiers: coming soon