THE ARMY UNIVERSITY, FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas – In late July 2025, the Advanced Military Studies Program at the School of Advanced Military Studies, known as SAMS, launched its first-ever experimental, three-day, Practical Application of Artificial Intelligence module.

The mission was simple: transform the program with an innovative, hands-on AI learning experience for students and faculty. The purpose was to enable warfighter lethality through AI education and training.

“AI is changing the character of warfare. Our graduates have got to be ready to lead formations powered by AI—and that’s why we did something about it,” Col. Dwight Domengeaux, Director, SAMS said.

Dr. Bruce Stanley, Director, AMSP, envisioned a module that pushed institutional norms about how mid-career officers learn about AI and learn with AI.

“Did we accept risk? Yes. We did—to create a critical learning opportunity for our students,” Stanley remarked. “We knew what was at stake, and we trusted our faculty and students to make it work.”

And make it work they did.

According to AMSP faculty, the module’s experimental instructional design was key, consisting of ten-and-a-half hours of total classroom contact time divided over three lessons.

“We covered a lot of ground with our students in three days,” Dr. Jacob Mauslein, associate professor, AMSP, said. “Subjects ranged from AI theory and ethical considerations of AI, to applying AI tools, and leading AI-enabled organizations.”

A novel feature of the module was that it was developed by AMSP students. As a task in their Future Operational Environment course, six students from the Class of 2025, mentored by two faculty, developed the AI module that would be taught to the Class of 2026. The students’ final draft was adopted almost without change by the faculty.

“Incorporating students as full participants in the process allowed us to co-develop lesson objectives and materials that deeply mattered to them,” Dr. Luke Herrington, one of the faculty leads for the module shared.

Meeting students where they were in terms of their AI skills and then taking them to the next level was part of the academic approach for the AI module, Herrington explained.

Maj. Justin Webb, PhD, an AY 2025 AMSP student, and one of the module’s developers explained it this way: “SAMS is a warfighting school—so we chose learning activities that would help us become more lethal warfighters with AI. Using AI tools like CamoGPT, Ask Sage, and others for several hours over three days helped us get there.”
Some students in the AY 2026 class were initially skeptical of using AI.

“At first, I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” Army Maj. Stuart Allgood, an Armor officer SAMS student said. “But by the end of the first day my thinking about AI had changed. After the second day, I could use AI tools I had never even heard of.”

Maj. Callum Knight, an intelligence officer from the United Kingdom summed up his experience.

“Before this course I viewed AI as just a data point,” Knight said. “Now that I’ve experienced what’s possible with AI, I realize it’s an imperative that is going to impact everything I do going forward.”

So, what’s next for AI at SAMS?

“Based on what our students got out of this, we intend to add more AI learning moments across the program,” Stanley said. “The priority now is to integrate AI into our upcoming operational warfare practical exercise.”

AMSP is one of the three distinct academic programs within SAMS.

The other two SAMS programs are the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program or ASLSP – a Senior Service College equivalent, and, the Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program or ASP3 also known as the Goodpaster Scholars—a post-graduate degree program.

Matthew Yandura is an AMSP assistant professor, and retired Army colonel.

Frameworks for the Futures of AI in Education.

Countries are using UNESCO’s Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) to map weaknesses and opportunities and to guide national AI strategies ; two latest additions being Namibia and Mozambique. 

The DRC is prioritizing digital transformation projects, investment partnerships for infrastructure, AI adapted to local languages, and personalized learning, organized around governance, regulation of human capital, and industrialization. RAM has supported startups, scholarships and capacity-building—pointing toward sovereign digital infrastructures and talent retention. 

Dr. Turyagenda notes that youth are already using AI and need a structured framework; its National AI Strategy and Digital Agenda Strategy align with UNESCO, AU and East African frameworks, with teachers involved from the start.

Preparing learners for an AI-driven economy.

Namibia—among the first in Southern Africa to launch a RAM process—is developing a national AI strategy and a National AI Institute. Hon. Mr. Dino Ballotti, Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture of Namibia underscores that the national approach is “humanity first” and context-specific—“Namibian problems require Namibian solutions”—with priorities in school connectivity, teacher and learner readiness, and data availability. Indigenous communities are actively involved in developing tools and digital technologies. 

The Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC), created in response to last year’s Australian Universities Accord, has begun interim operations and will act as an independent steward for the system, overseeing implementation of reforms aimed at lifting participation, improving equity, and strengthening links between vocational and higher education.

Addressing an audience gathered at the Australian Student Equity Symposium in Sydney, Australia’s education minister Jason Clare said ATEC will ensure long-term reform of the sector and prevent policy momentum from being lost to shifting political cycles.

Clare said reform agendas often lose focus when governments or ministers change. “Almost always, when a big piece of thinking is done to reform or transform a part of the economy, governments will pick off parts of it and then the caravan moves on,” he said.

“I want to make sure that’s not the case here,” he said, reinforcing that ATEC will provide continuous oversight, keeping governments focused on both the unfinished business of the Accord and emerging sector challenges.

While the Accord laid the foundations, Clare stressed it cannot answer every question for the future. “The Accord is a product of a big piece of work in 2023 and it doesn’t necessarily have all the answers for 2030 or 2035,” he said. “This gives us a living process to constantly provide feedback… not just what haven’t we done in the Accord that we need to do, but what else should we be thinking of doing.”

ATEC will negotiate compacts with universities covering funding, purpose, and institutional mission. “At the nitty gritty level, it’s about money, but it’s also about purpose and focus,” said Clare.

“In the future, we do have an ecosystem which looks different than it does today, not worse, better, but different and potentially a little bit more specialised.”

ATEC will also play a central role in Australia’s international education sector, according to assistant minister for international education Julian Hill.

Speaking at the Education Consultants Association of Australia, Hill said the Commission will oversee mission-based compacts requiring institutions to outline their own strategies for international enrolments, rather than imposing one-size-fits-all caps.

Institutions will need to show how they are diversifying, how they’re contributing to national priorities, and how their growth is sustainable
_{Jason Clare, education minister}

“Institutions will need to show how they are diversifying, how they’re contributing to national priorities, and how their growth is sustainable,” said Hill.

The Commission will monitor reliance on specific markets, regional provision, student housing, and overall sustainability, ensuring international growth aligns with broader national objectives.

ATEC is currently operating in an interim capacity and, subject to the passage of legislation, is expected to be fully operational by 2026. The Commission is designed to support a more coordinated and sustainable higher education system, ensuring that reforms progress steadily and that institutions balance domestic and international priorities in line with national policy objectives.