NATCA Members Complete Drug and Alcohol Training Class

Jul 14, 2026

Nineteen NATCA members recently completed the two-day Drug and Alcohol Training (DAT) course on June 8-9, 2026, in Las Vegas. The course educated participants about the proper procedures for a drug test and the rights afforded to bargaining unit employees during testing.

Attendees now are equipped to be effective representatives and witness the testing process at their facilities. “The collective benefit that attendees take back to the membership is the ability to build a stronger and safer local through advocacy and representation, skills learned via the NATCA Academy classes,” said class instructor James Dyckman (New York TRACON, N90). Andrea Moore (Charlotte ATCT, CLT) also helped lead the class.

Class participant Andrew Courtney (Albuquerque ATCT, ABQ) said the benefit of attending a NATCA class is felt as soon as you return to your facility, “As soon as management knows you have a bit more training on a topic than them, they will use you as a resource. Quite a few of them look to NATCA members with specialized training to make sure they are doing things properly. That allows us as members to help protect ourselves from both erroneous and/or malicious management actions. I encourage everyone that can attend a class like this to do so and help protect our fellow members.”

Congratulations to all the members who completed this most recent DAT class:

Horacio Bady (Jacksonville Center, ZJX)
Kevin Chen (Omaha TRACON, R90)
Andrew Courtney (ABQ)
John Culwell (Florence ATCT, FLO)
Aaron Golding (Midland ATCT, MAF)
John Hamilton (Tucson ATCT, TUS)
Christopher James (Northern California TRACON, NCT)
Emily Lamantia (New York TRACON, N90)
Kelsey McKendrick (Southern California TRACON, SCT)
Daniel Perea (Oakland Center, ZOA)
Michael Salaber (Denver ATCT, DEN)
Colton Sanders (Hobby ATCT, HOU)
Zachary Schulze (St. Louis ATCT, STL)
Lindsey Shirley (Meacham ATCT, FTW)
Justin Sperry (Cedar Rapids ATCT, CID)
Evan Weathersby (Joshua TRACON, JCF)
Andrew White (Los Angeles Center, ZLA)
Russell Wilcox (N90)
Jessica York (Miami Center, ZMA)

Future NATCA Academy classes are scheduled for November and December. Members interested in attending those sessions can register.