Air University offers sponsors the chance to leverage the career-spanning population of students, full spectrum of MOS and expert SME guidance to work on problem sets of importance to the DAF. The backbone of a Research Task Force (RTF) are two-term elective courses taken by a mixed group of AWC and ACSC students, recruited early in the school year and selected by faculty for what they bring to the discussion. This joint, collaborative environment allows researchers to bring their expertise and experience to formal academic scholarship guided by available AU faculty. Sponsors interested in providing data sets, financial support, access to their own SMEs, outbrief slots, or multi-year iterative topics are welcome to contact us for further discussion.
A RTF requires:
- A sponsor
- Available faculty with appropriate expertise
- Non-duplicative student interest at both ACSC and AWC (so no JADO RTF that competes with JWSS/JADS)
- Specific problem set and desired deliverables.
- External funding (if necessary).
If your organization is interested in sponsoring an RTF or other AU scholarship, please contact us at OfficeOfSponsoredPrograms@au.af.edu.
To apply, please send a short personal statement (no more than 1 page on why you’d like to join and what you bring to the table) to the Office of Sponsored Programs: auresearch@au.af.edu by CoB July 24 (for ACSC applicants) and 23:59 July 26 for AWC applicants. You may apply to more than one RTF, but please indicate your priority preference. Please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs or the RTF faculty leads with questions. If you are not selected for an RTF, you can continue normal bidding for AWC or ACSC elective and research options.
Multiple RTFs study questions and develop research answers for specific leaders. Our research task forces, housed at the Air War College and at Air Command and Staff College, include the following for AY25:
- AFRICOM and Information Warfare (AFRICOM J3/9)--Dr. Charles Thomas and Dr. Scott Edmonson
Embark on a critical journey with the AFRICOM Information Warfare Research Task Force, led by esteemed Dr. Charles Thomas and Dr. Scott Edmonson. Sponsored by AFRICOM J3/9, this dynamic course delves into the strategic complexities of information warfare within the context of great power competition. You will explore the multifaceted challenges facing AFRICOM, analyze the role of information operations in modern conflicts, and develop innovative strategies to address these threats. Through comprehensive research projects and engaging discussions, you will gain invaluable insights and contribute to the evolving landscape of information warfare. Join us to enhance your expertise and impact the future of military strategy and operations. Open to all students, International Officers especially encouraged.
- Ethics and Emerging Military Technologies (16AF)--Dr. Daniel Strand
Explore the profound ethical implications of cutting-edge military technologies with the Ethics and Emerging Military Technologies Research Task Force. Under the guidance of instructors Dr. Daniel Strand and Dr. Paul Johnstono, this course delves into the moral challenges posed by innovations such as artificial intelligence, drones, robots, and cyber warfare. Through a rigorous curriculum, you will analyze the intersection of technology and ethics, develop complex moral arguments, and contribute to critical discussions on the future of warfare. Enhance your understanding of Just War ethics and apply ethical theories to contemporary military technologies. Join us and shape the discourse on the ethical use of technology in modern military operations. All students are welcome.
- Innovation Research Task Force (HAF A5/7)--Dr. Bill DeMarco
Embark on a transformative journey into the heart of military innovation with our year-long immersive program. Combining cutting-edge methodologies from Stanford's d.school, the University of Michigan, the University of Cambridge, and ancient Yin-Yang philosophy, you'll practice futures literacy, design thinking, strategic analysis, and socially impactful innovation. Engage with real-world projects, field trips to innovation hubs like Hyundai and Coca-Cola, and the DoD ecosystem. Gain invaluable insights from our iRTF funding sponsor, Lt Gen Harris AF/A5/7, and interact with global expert guest speakers from the military, academic and corporate realms. By the program's end, you'll have completed an innovation project of importance to military stakeholders and emerge with a future-ready mindset, poised to drive strategic change in the military sphere. Seize this unique opportunity to challenge the status quo and forge the path of military innovation. All students are welcome.
- Ideas & Weapons (AFRL)--Dr. Christine Covas-Smith
The AFRL Future Ideas and Weapons and Modernizing Airpower Research Task Force examines capabilities that Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) is developing today and investigates how these emerging technologies pair with future operating concepts from the Air Force Futures (AF Futures/A5). Students will be able to decide which of two tracks they would like to take in this unique course: one targeted at solving gaps now and in the near future or gaps now and in the far future with a goal of developing a strategy leading the DAF into the 2025-time frame to modernize airpower. Papers are briefed to AFRL and AFWIC senior leadership. SECRET clearance minimum and US only/NOFORN
- Leadership and the Changing Character of War (HAF A5/7 SM)--Dr. John Hinck
Elevate your strategic leadership skills and gain in-depth knowledge of the evolving nature of warfare with the Leadership and Changing Character of War Research Task Force (CWRTF). This unique program, sponsored by the HAF A5/7SM Strategy Concepts & Assessments Directorate, offers a comprehensive exploration of how leadership practices must adapt to meet the demands of contemporary and future conflicts. Through a combination of rigorous academic study and practical research projects, students will delve into themes such as cyber warfare, AI development, and hybrid warfare, while also examining the broader strategic, operational, and tactical shifts in modern military engagements.
Participants will engage in thought-provoking discussions, develop annotated bibliographies, and produce detailed case studies on topics of their choosing. The program culminates in a substantial research paper and presentation, offering insights and recommendations directly relevant to USAF and DOD strategic objectives. Join us in shaping the future of military education and strategic leadership by addressing the complex challenges posed by the changing character of war. All students are welcome.
- Mission Ready: Advancing Warfighter Performance (HAF A5/7)--Professor Megan Allison
Join the cutting-edge Mission Ready: Advancing Warfighter Performance Research Task Force and delve into the intricate dynamics of human performance in the military context. Over this transformative year-long program, students will gain unparalleled insights into optimizing human capabilities to enhance mission effectiveness, safety, and resilience. Explore the diverse factors impacting performance—physical, cognitive, emotional, and environmental—and uncover under-addressed threats such as psychological stressors and cognitive vulnerabilities. Investigate emerging technologies like virtual and augmented reality simulations, biofeedback systems and translating civilian wellness practices to fit the Air Force context. Benefit from lectures, problem-based discussions, and expert guest speakers while forging connections between research and real-world applications. By the end of the program, you'll have developed practical skills, evidence-based recommendations and implementation plans and strategies for A5/7 to improve warfighter performance. Classes are held in the state-of-the-art Praxeum classroom at the Eagle Institute, with occasional Zoom sessions. Contact Megan Allison or Dr. Lina Svedin for more details. Embark on this journey to advance warfighter performance and make a lasting impact on our Airmen and the Air Force. All students interested in removing obstacles to mission readiness are welcome.
- Resiliency Research Task Force (AMC)--Dr. Susan Steen
Today’s military leaders command in a world of growing strategic competition and complex organizational challenges, leading teams that face unprecedented pressures and demands. Air University’s Resilience Research Task Force cultivates military leaders equipped to maintain core purpose and achieve mission goals while helping their members prepare for, adapt to and recover from adversity.
Our project identifies and develops grounded, creative solutions to resilience challenges facing Airmen, the Air Force, and the DOD. We explore critical perspectives and theories, cultivating mindsets and skillsets for enhancing personal, social and organizational resilience. We examine the ways culture shapes attitudes and approaches towards resilience and identify factors that strengthen or undermine resilience while analyzing characteristics of resilient organizations. We investigate relationships among resilience and learning from failure; suicide prevention and postvention; and the critical role of social connection. Students develop research on a topic of interest to them and of importance to the USAF/DOD, with guidance from academic advisors.
Our project is sponsored by Air Mobility Command. Guest speakers have included luminaries such as General Mike Minihan, AMC Commander, and former CMSAF Joanne S. Bass. Our participants have briefed their project findings to General Michael Minihan and to the Director of Air Force Integrated Resilience. Distinguished RTF graduates have presented research at national conferences and published their work in a variety of media, and a book project to showcase student research is currently under way. Graduates have recorded messages for suicide prevention, developed Squadron “Resilience Days,” created resilience curriculum for students at different ranks and levels, and led CGOs in projects on building resilience through winning culture and social connection. This RTF engages leaders in developing strategies to strengthen resilience in and across our USAF and DOD, and to create a lasting positive impact on those they lead. All students are welcome.
- Russia Research Task Force (EUCOM/Russia Strategic Initiative)--Dr. Andrew Akin
Working for the Russia Strategic Initiative at EUCOM, this Research Task Force creates specialists in Russian affairs for the total force. The class surveys the contemporary state of Russia politics and the processes, forces, and actors that created it, including the origins of the Russian Revolution, the rise, functionality, and demise of the Soviet System. The course then proceeds to explore the dynamics of the contemporary Russian state and its foreign policy and strategic concerns. Students will apply their knowledge of history and politics through independent research projects of interest, which may be presented at the regional Southern Conference on Slavic Studies. All students are welcome, International Officers are especially encouraged.
- Taiwan Deterrence (PACAF A5/8 and HAF A5/7)--Dr. Jared McKinney
What can Taiwan do in this “decisive decade” to decrease the risk of conflict across the Taiwan Strait? The Taiwan deterrence RTF is Air University’s intellectual center for creative solutions actionable in the foreseeable future. In this RTF, all student projects are intended for briefing and publication and the highest levels. Projects focus particularly on weapons and operational concepts Taiwan can use to reduce the PRC’s military overmatch. In academic year 2024, a paper from this RTF was selected by the J7 staff to be briefed to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Collectively, the RTF papers won half-a-dozen awards from Air War College and Air Command and Staff College. In academic year 2025, the RTF will build on this success as it promotes new approaches to deterrence. All students are welcome, International Officers are especially encouraged.
Past Research Task forces include: