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Team

Veteran-led, with a network of leading experts.

Lantern's leaders bring decades of experience across the White House National Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Air Force, global aviation regulation and threat intelligence.

David Hansell, CEO and Co-Founder

David Hansell

CEO and Co-Founder

U.S. Air Force veteran and former National Security Council director who helped bring in the FAA's Part 107 drone rule; led global aviation policy at Facebook and Loon (Alphabet).

David Hansell has spent his career where aviation and national security meet. He began in the U.S. Air Force as an air traffic controller and aircrew member in Special Operations Command, then served as an intelligence officer and national security liaison to the FAA and TSA. As Director for Transportation Security Policy on the National Security Council, he helped bring in the FAA's Part 107 rule, which opened U.S. airspace to commercial drones. He went on to lead global aviation policy at Facebook and to serve as Global Head of Aviation Regulation and Policy at Loon (Alphabet), working with civil aviation authorities worldwide. A licensed drone pilot in the US and EU, he chairs the Flight Safety Foundation's ARPAC Advisory Committee and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He is CEO of Lantern UAS.

Full bio

He served on the National Security Council during the Obama administration; his work on the Part 107 rule was in 2016, while he was at the White House.

His remote pilot certifications are from the FAA in the United States and, in Europe, as a Specific Category remote pilot under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

At Facebook his work focused on high-altitude, long-endurance drone operations, and he led the adoption by ICAO of new principles for high-altitude drone operations. At Loon he worked to harmonize international regulations for stratospheric balloon operations.

The Flight Safety Foundation's ARPAC Advisory Committee, which he chairs, works on safety challenges in advanced air mobility (AAM).

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma.

Ben Rohrbaugh, President and Co-Founder

Ben Rohrbaugh

President and Co-Founder

Former National Security Council director and senior DHS and CBP adviser; threat and risk intelligence analyst; named inventor on U.S. and E.U. drone security patents.

Ben Rohrbaugh has spent his career on homeland security, border security and threat intelligence. At the White House he was Director for Enforcement and Border Security at the National Security Council, responsible for global supply chain security and border management with Mexico and Canada. At DHS he was a Senior Advisor in the Office of Policy and to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where he negotiated the first entirely privately financed border crossing. He also ran his own business analyzing non-state and macro threats, from terrorism to cybersecurity and pandemics. He is a named inventor on two U.S. patents and one E.U. patent for drone-based critical infrastructure security systems, a Senior Fellow at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at UT Austin, and the author of “More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything” (University of Michigan Press, 2020). He is President of Lantern UAS.

Full bio

His book is More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything: Homeland Security, Borders, and Disasters in the Twenty-first Century (University of Michigan Press, 2020).

He was Director for Enforcement and Border Security at the National Security Council from 2014 to 2016.

As Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he handled engagement with the Government of Mexico on customs, migration and security cooperation.

Earlier, as Counselor to the Special Representative for Border Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, he worked on border management, cross-border infrastructure and communications interoperability.

As Director for National Security in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, he was responsible for political appointments in the Departments of Homeland Security, State and Defense, and in international development organizations.

He holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from the University of California, Davis (2003).

Network

Our expert network

Behind our products and advisory work is a network of people who have done this work for real. We bring the right people to each engagement and do not publish their names.

  • Military and government

    Former officers and senior officials with counter-UAS, air defense and force protection experience.

  • Law enforcement and security

    People who have led protective operations, event security and investigations.

  • Aviation and airspace

    Specialists in airport operations, air traffic and airspace rules.

  • Law and policy

    Lawyers and policy specialists in drone and counter-drone authority in the U.S. and Europe.

  • Engineering and data

    Engineers and analysts who build sensing, fusion and decision tools, and who maintain the incident record.

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