BEN ROHRBAUGH

Founder and CEO

Ben Rohrbaugh is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lantern Unmanned Autonomous Systems, LLC. He was previously a Senior Advisor in the Department of Homeland Security Office of Policy. From 2014 to 2016, he served as the Director for Enforcement and Border Security at the National Security Council in the White House, where he was responsible for border management with Mexico and Canada and global supply chain security. He developed a new council to prioritize border infrastructure investments across the U.S. Government and coordinated policy on human trafficking and container security.

Previously he worked as a Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, where he handled engagement on customs, migration, and security cooperation with the Government of Mexico and negotiated the first entirely privately financed border crossing. Prior to this, Ben was Counselor to the Special Representative for Border Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, where he focused on border management, cross border infrastructure, and communications interoperability. He also served as the Director for National Security within the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, where he was responsible for political appointments within the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Defense, and international development organizations. 

Ben previously worked on a number of political campaigns including as the Field Desk for the Western United States on the Obama 2008 campaign, and spent several years in China developing language learning materials. He received a B.A from the University of California at Davis in 2003 in History and Political Science.

DAVID HANSELL

Co-Founder

David Hansell is the Co-Founder and COO of Lantern Unmanned Autonomous Systems,

LLC. David was the Public Policy Manager for the world's leading drone manufacturer - DJI and previously was the Head of Global Aviation Policy for Facebook, the world's #1 social networking company located in California. He has extensive experience building and operating small unmanned aircraft systems for commercial purposes and has a comprehensive understanding of the world's drone regulatory environment. He previously served as the Director for Transportation Security Policy on the National Security Council in the White House, where he was responsible for guiding the development and implementation of policies designed to mitigate security threats and safety concerns in transportation, with a particular focus on the rapidly evolving field of unmanned aviation systems.

Previously, he worked as the Director for Strategic Intelligence Analysis at the Transportation Security Administration, National Security Liaison for the Federal Aviation Administration, and an intelligence operations specialist with Air Force Special Operations Command. Additionally, David served as an air traffic controller with the US Air Force and a number of federal contract ATC facilities, both domestically and overseas, providing him with a comprehensive understanding of the world’s aviation

infrastructure and the regulatory system upon which it operates. He previously worked as a foreign language instructor at the Defense Language Institute, teaching Farsi to a diverse field of Department of Defense students. David also serves as the Chairman of the Upper Airspace Working Group; a coalition of aviation manufacturers working to harmonize the global aviation regulatory environment for high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft systems. 

David earned a B.S. in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2004 and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma in 2011.