Review of Specialized Degree-Granting Graduate Programs of the Department of Defense in STEM and Management (2014) / Chapter Skim
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.1,2 This report is the third in a series of recent NRC reports relating to STEM and DoD's workforce.3,4 Its purpose is to address the need for relevant graduate STEM+M education for DoD personnel, both military and civilians; assess the cost, benefits, and organizational placement of DoD institutions that grant degrees in STEM+M; and evaluate alternative ways (e.g., the proper balance of DoD and civilian education sources and funding, distance learning delivery methods, and reporting structures of DoDfunded institutions) to ensure high-quality education outcomes.
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It is also apparent that a "one-size-fits-all" graduate education solution that meets DoD's growing STEM+M needs is not the correct solution. Students differ in their starting skills, academic interest, geographic location, time commitments, preferred learn ing style, and their ability to afford a quality education.
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These three Services identify, select, and fund a portion of their military officer graduate education pool from a central Service office. In addition, the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps send a significant number of their officers to AFIT and NPS and a smaller number to civilian institutions to obtain degrees not offered at AFIT or NPS and to broaden the intellectual diversity of AFIT, NPS, and Service Academy faculties.6 Civilians and military members that fall outside this pool are funded predominately from local organizational budgets and tuition assistance programs, and they are nearly all educated at civilian institutions.
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5. Enhance AFIT and NPS graduate education outcomes by increasing institu tional collaboration through partnerships and effective distance learning methods.
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DoD leaders, regardless of background, will increasingly confront technical and technical management issues as the already rapid pace of technology change increases. DoD leadership could therefore encourage all graduate education pro grams to include technical and technical management-oriented components in order to send a strong signal of STEM+M's importance to the workforce and increase the STEM+M literacy of DoD decision makers.
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An active research program is essential to quality graduate education. Active, high-quality DoD research programs • Provide critical elements of the student's graduate education, • Identify future education needs before requirements are specified, • Expose students early on to emerging technologies and new scientific and engineering discoveries, • Instill a culture of lifelong learning in the students, • Attract and retain quality faculty for all DoD educational institutions, • Enhance the national visibility of DoD institutions, and • Result in cost savings and new capabilities for DoD.
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CLOSING REMARKS Achieving success in modern conflicts is due in no small part to military forces that leverage technology enablers that connect mobile forces, create and accurately deliver smart weapons, hide from and defeat sensors, automatically detect threats from stand-off distances, allow small units to control large areas, and follow the commands of remote operators located outside the region of conflict. The increas ing reliance on sophisticated technologies by friendly and adversarial forces to achieve force multiplier effects demands a technically competent workforce capable of buying, operating, maintaining, and, in some cases developing, technologies and technology-enabled systems.
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DoD has many gradu ate education options to choose from, including DoD schools, such as NPS and AFIT, as well as a wide range of civilian institutions. No single source or class of sources meets all DoD graduate education needs, and not all needs are filled by technical degrees.
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