Mark Rodrigo joins Elroy Air to lead Federal Business Development, bringing both military and private sector expertise
Today we welcome Mark Rodrigo to the Elroy Air team! Mark, who served as a captain in the United States Air Force joins us to lead Federal Business Development. As an intelligence officer, Mark spent his active duty career focused on ISR operations leveraging a mix of crewed, uncrewed, and space-based assets across five continents. While deployed in Kandahar, Mark partnered with American and multinational units to deliver high-impact support as the MQ-9 Reaper lead of a specialized sensor pod and mission set.
In the private sector, Mark has spent his career in Silicon Valley at the intersection of operations, engineering, and product development. His specialties include AI/ML, autonomous technology, and robotics with stints at Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and early-stage, multi-billion dollar startups.
We sat down with Mark to ask a few questions about his background, where he sees the future of Chaparral and why he’s excited to join Elroy Air.
Why did you join Elroy Air?
MARK: I’m excited to join Elroy Air and for the opportunity to bring the benefits of practical autonomy to where it is needed most — whether in support of military operations and contested logistics or by transforming commercial and humanitarian efforts.
I’ve spent my entire career around uncrewed and autonomous systems, from military drones to autonomous delivery robots in Silicon Valley. Elroy Air is the perfect intersection that allows me to blend serving a community, the United States military, that gave me so much with a capability that fills an immediate need.
You’ve led in both the military and private sectors. How has that experience shaped your perspective on the potential of dual-use technologies like Elroy Air’s Chaparral?
Wearing the uniform and balancing the day-to-day challenges of taking care of my Airmen while making sure the mission got done was one of the greatest privileges of my career; it provided me the perspective to quickly identify and prioritize the most critical aspects of a project/process and execute against it relentlessly.
The Chaparral fits into that paradigm in the sense that it can serve as a force multiplier in contested logistics that can support traditionally underserved or smaller units further removed from airfields and logistics hubs. As a former officer, I’m proud that we’re making life easier for operators at the edge and equipping the military for the future.
I’m excited to take the lessons I learned deploying autonomous robots in Silicon Valley and to apply them to aerial robotics. With its VTOL and modular payload capabilities, Chaparral is well positioned to support dynamic multi-domain operations from sea to air by bringing smaller assets closer to the location of need, preserving their fuel for mission critical tasks.
What impact do you see the Chaparral having on military and commercial logistics?
MARK: What excites me most about the Chaparral is the way that it can transform logistics for the military in the near term and increase efficiency for our commercial partners in the medium term. Much of the daily conveniences we take for granted in our lives are actually still fairly challenging or resource intensive for the military. We have to ask questions like:
- Is there an airfield capable of supporting our aircraft?
- Is our aircrew able to support the mission?
- Do we have the equipment or people to unload our delivery?
These questions never cross our mind when we click “Add to Cart” — and soon much of our military won’t have to ask these questions either. Chaparral can simplify the logistical challenges the military faces on a daily basis and allow them to focus on the mission and tasks at hand.
What attracted you to aerospace?
MARK: As a kid, I always loved going to the airshow at the naval base my dad was assigned to and of course we loved the movie Top Gun.
When I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to have a fantastic Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. (JROTC) teacher who told me about his experience at the Air Force Academy and how it shaped a lot of who he was. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to the Air Force Academy and have had a keen interest in aerospace ever since.
On active duty I had the opportunity to use some incredible technology and even after transitioning to the civilian world, I’ve always looked for ways to continue to give back and be involved in the sector.
How do you see this industry transforming over the next decade?
MARK: In the next decade we’re going to see a revolution in the mobility and logistics space that requires thoughtful, flexible delivery capabilities with limited dependencies on physical infrastructures. Elroy Air is well positioned to shape the next phase of logistics and delivery. Nothing on the market today provides the flexibility and dynamic mission sets that the Chaparral has with its autonomous operating capabilities.
Welcome to the team, Mark!
