Pryor High School Aviation students recently had the opportunity to put classroom learning into action during Exercise Lightning Strike, an emergency management drill held at Camp Gruber in April.
Pryor was one of three high school aviation teams invited to attend the event, which simulated a real-life emergency scenario involving an EF5 tornado striking Muskogee, Oklahoma. The exercise focused on search and rescue efforts following a large-scale disaster and gave students the chance to use drone flight skills in a high-pressure, real-world setting.
The event was a joint venture with the Oklahoma Air National Guard and the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education, or OAIRE, through Oklahoma State University. The exercise welcomed federal, state, and local agencies, including the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Muskogee Emergency Management, first responders, NASA, OAIRE, and other academic and industry partners.
For the Pryor Aviation students, the day included participation in a mock search and rescue competition designed to simulate the statewide competition coming this fall, which could potentially include up to 160 schools from across Oklahoma.
Students were selected for the team based on their performance on a written exam assessing knowledge of search and rescue techniques. They also had to be academically eligible and available to attend the full-day event.
Although Pryor’s juniors and seniors in Aviation 3 had more experience, many were unable to attend because of state testing. Instead, they stepped into a mentoring role, helping the younger team members learn to fly the specific drone aircraft used in the competition. Their coaching allowed the younger students, made up of freshmen and sophomores, to step into the challenge with confidence.
During the competition, students worked through search and rescue scenarios while the Oklahoma Air National Guard trained alongside first responders, emergency management personnel, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on a variety of natural disaster response situations, including wildfires, tornadoes, and flooding. The purpose was to test communication, procedures, and systems before a real emergency occurs.
According to Oklahoma National Guard News, Lt. Col. Franklin Alexander, director of military support for the Oklahoma National Guard, said, “Training together builds trust, improves communication, and ensures that when Oklahomans need help, agencies operate as one team.”
Students also heard from Oklahoma Air National Guard recruiters, who shared information about career opportunities in the Guard and how service can help support college pathways.
From drone flight to disaster response, the experience gave Pryor students a firsthand look at how aviation technology can play a critical role in improving response times, supporting search and rescue efforts, and helping agencies work together when communities need them most.