Dave Lincoln grew up in Rochester, New York and graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in 2002 with majors in Chemistry and History.  He performed research chemistry, primarily in organic and organo-metallic labs at Dartmouth College and Eastman Kodak Company, but also worked in an inorganic catalysis lab at Columbia University.

He joined the US Navy in his senior year and following Officer Candidate School was an instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command from 2003 to 2007; where he taught future Nuclear Officers in the fields of Chemistry, Materials, and Radiological Fundamentals.  He was selected for the Navy’s Law Education Program in 2007 and graduated cum Laudefrom Boston College Law School in 2010.

Dave was an active duty Lieutenant in the US Navy JAG Corps from 2010-2014. He was a prosecutor and a supervisory prosecutor at the Region Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic Detachment Groton from 2010-2012; where he prosecuted a wide range of cases. From 2012 until he left active duty in 2014 he was the Staff Judge Advocate to Commander, Submarine Group TWO; where he advised on ethics, military justice matters, and operational law for the submarines based in Groton, CT and Norfolk, VA.  He was the legal advisor to the USS MIAMI Fire Investigation Team at Naval Shipyard Portsmouth.

Dave transferred into the drilling US Navy Reserve and joined the Naval Justice School Reserve Unit in April 2014.  He was an associate at Wiggin and Dana, LLP, in New Haven, CT as a member of the International Trade, Government Contracting, Art and Museum Law, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Intellectual Property practice groups.

He was recalled to the Office of Military Commissions in July 2015 and was a detailed Assistant Trial Counsel on the United States v. Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi Military Commission.  His primary responsibilities were to manage the team’s classified discovery and litigation under the military analog of the Classified Information Procedures Act, but was also involved in litigation relating to expert witnesses, environmental litigation at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, and interagency coordination.

Dave joined the Federal Aviation Administration as an unmanned aerial system (UAS) Security Expert in the FAA’s National Security Programs and Incident Response Office.  He is involved in interagency Counter-UAS coordination, UAS rulemaking, legislative initiatives, and other non-legal matters relating to UAS.  He is still a drilling reservist and is assigned as the Staff Judge Advocate to the Naval Air Systems Command Reserve Program’s Rapid Research and Development Unit.

Dave is now employed at Skyward, a Verizon company.  He leads efforts for complex small UAS operations within the National Airspace System (NAS) such as beyond visual line of sight.  He secured the first Part 107 purely remote waiver known in the United States, during the Big Hollow fire in September 2020.

He further pursues regulatory advocacy with agencies responsible for oversight of small UAS operations and UAS communication protocols, including FAA, DHS, DOJ, and FCC and successfully executed a research agreement with FAA for UAS Command and Control (C2).  He represents Verizon and Skyward representative on standards bodies such as ASTM, 3GPP, and ANSI to develop standards for UAS and for cellular networking connectivity and is a member of the FAA Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC); leading Security Subgroup report writing.  He leads the Small UAV Coalition Remote ID Working Group and represents Skyward/Verizon on its Board, to include meetings with Members of Congress, their staff, National Security Council, and White House.

Dave is active in Verizon volunteer programs, representing veterans pro bono at administrative hearings and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.  He also represents veterans independently and recently won an appeal for a veteran at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and a protective order in a domestic matter in Virginia Courts.

Dave lives in Leesburg, Virginia with his wife, the former Kristen Greenbaum, two sons and daughter.  He enjoys running, sailing, building wooden boats, and spending time with his family.