Omni Defense Hires Military Aviators to Address Tactical Dehydration

Omni Defense Technologies recently announced the hiring of three experienced veterans to enhance business development and support functions for the company’s products.

The company creates and manufactures in-flight bladder relief products supporting human performance and safety in the military, defense and space exploration sectors.

Omni Defense has hired:

• Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Lisa Christensen of the U.S. Air Force
• Lieutenant Commander Tara Palmer of the U.S. Navy Reserves
• Lieutenant Commander (Ret.) Taylor Burton of the U.S. Navy as

The military advisors will facilitate Business Development and Customer Training for SKYDRATE, the company’s in-flight automated bladder relief system.

Founder and President of Omni Defense Mark Harvie said, “We are excited about the addition of Tara Palmer, Taylor Burton and Lisa Christensen to the Omni Defense team.”

He continued, “These valiant combat veterans can speak first-hand about the value that the SKYDRATE automated bladder relief system brings in elevating safety and human performance on training and operational sorties, where focus on details is a matter of life and death.”

Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Ret.) Lisa Christensen, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, flew the C-17 Globemaster III transport plane on missions in support of combat, peacekeeping, medevac and humanitarian aid in and out of Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations.

Lt Col Christensen flew the C-37 A/B (Gulfstream V/550) for the 89th Airlift Wing in support of Special Air Missions transporting the Vice President, cabinet members, combatant commanders and other senior military and elected leaders.

Christensen said, “The problem of bladder relief on long flights is an issue for both male and female pilots. The most difficult part of changing the culture for pilots is that many have been tactically dehydrating and holding it on shorter training sorties for so long that they ignore the detriment to their health and performance.”

Christensen continued, “They are not prepared for the demands of longer operational sorties and ocean crossings where the need for bladder relief is critical. In the C-17, a working lavatory is required for departure because bladder relief is essential to all humans. Adoption of SKYDRATE for our helicopter and fighter pilots in training is essential to training like we fight.”

Lieutenant Commander, USNR Tara Palmer brings military aviation experience to the team. She served in active-duty service in the United States Navy as an Electronic Warfare Officer in the EA-18 Growler aircraft for 14 years. As a Naval Test Pilot Graduate, she’s able to bridge the gap between the warfighter’s needs and engineering design.

LCDR Palmer said, “For many years, I used to tactically dehydrate myself or basically quit drinking liquids to avoid having to urinate on long missions. So, I was delighted when I was given the opportunity to be one of the first few pilots in our squadron to be able to use the bladder relief system from Omni Defense.”

Palmer has worn and used the SKYDRATE system on a wide variety of combat missions. During her longest flight over the Pacific Ocean, she successfully wore the SKYDRATE system for 8.5 hours, giving her insight into the in-flight bladder relief challenges aviators face.

Lieutenant Commander, USN (Ret.) Taylor Burton has more than 26 years in the U.S. Navy as a pilot of a MH60 Sierra Nighthawk, and had deployments in Bahrain, Afghanistan, Iraq and other areas. After active duty flying, LCDR Burton became an Aeromedical Training Instructor and Naval Aerospace and Operational Physiologist for USN Operational Fighter Wings and Training Command.

Burton said, “In the old days, when you’re planning a mission, you think about fuel, weather, airframe readiness and crew status. But your planning for hydration was not as big of a priority, and this came at a performance cost.”

Burton continued, “If you have a 3% loss of water intake in your body, your Gs tolerance, your blood pressure goes down almost 40%. So, if a pilot’s resting Gs tolerance is normally like 6, the pilot could pass out at 3 Gs. When you're in an F-18 and that happens, you either wake up before you hit the ground or you don't. And that's the danger. It could kill you.”

Burton concluded, “The real value of the SKYDRATE is that it removes a dangerous variable from extended flights and effectively improves pilot safety and performance.”