Forging the Future: US Army War College International Fellows Visit CMU

Last month, 75 military officers representing 72 partner countries came to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to learn about current security challenges. Co-hosted by Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST), the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, and CyLab Security and Privacy Institute, officers in the US Army War College International Fellows Program attended various briefings by CMU experts and toured select research labs.

Officers in the International Fellows Program have the opportunity to spend a year at the Army War College in Carlisle, PA where they receive special instruction in military concepts, doctrine, and strategies. As mandated by the Joint Security Cooperation Education and Training Regulation, the officers attend several field studies, such as this trip to CMU, in order to expose these future international leaders to various people, political systems, institutions, and values in the US. 

The International Fellows’ visit began with a general welcome from CMIST Director Audrey Kurth Cronin. Heinz College Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, David Eber, followed with an overview of the university, emphasizing CMU’s leadership in preparing graduates for jobs in the innovation economy. 

The day featured briefings on international security, artificial intelligence (AI), and cybersecurity and privacy. In the first of four briefings, Ralph López, CMIST’s deputy director for security policy studies, shared insights regarding the rapid pace of innovation in AI. 

Heinz College Dean Ramayya Krishnan then discussed the implications for responsible use, public policy, and governance. “We need a mindset of what [data] went into the AI, how do we test for acceptable errors, [and then] testing to ensure that the AI is reliable enough,” said Krishnan, who emphasized the importance of testing protocols.

Tanzanian fellow LTC Nancy Kibona raised several questions regarding potential impacts of the technology. The ensuing discussion touched on topics ranging from how AI might impact the military recruitment crisis to the use of chatbots on educational platforms such as Khan Academy to help improve learning outcomes. 

The international military fellows also had the chance to hear from CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor who shared CyLab's 20-year history and discussed its impact, highlighting how rising privacy concerns over Internet of Things (IoT) devices has spurred research on cybersecurity labels.

The briefings concluded with CMIST Director Audrey Kurth Cronin’s assessment of the strategic security implications of various international crises  – from Ukraine to the Middle East to China. Cronin explored the causes of global realignment and how that impacts international security today, such as how the invasion of Ukraine has facilitated Russia’s closer alignment with China. 

After Cronin’s presentation, the international fellows had the chance to discuss other security threats. For instance, Swiss fellow Col. Peter Braunn engaged Cronin in a lively discussion about the national security implications of climate change.

Following the briefings, the officers participated in select tours of research labs to see first-hand the cutting-edge technologies being developed at CMU and to consider how these innovations might help address current and future security challenges. Fellows toured the AI Biometrics Center directed by Marios Savvides, viewed the augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies at the WiSE Lab (Wireless Sensing and Embedded Systems) lead by Anthony Rowe, and learned about the search and rescue robots overseen by Matt Travers at the Biorobotics Lab of the CMU Robotics Institute.

At the AI Biometrics Center, they saw how advances in facial recognition technology have helped identify terrorists using an incredibly small segment of a person’s face – specifically around the eyes. At the Biorobotics Lab, Travers showed the fellows a robot “dog” that is able to operate in uneven terrain and climb stairs. These features make it suitable to serve as an autonomous search and rescue device, expanding the reach of search efforts while simultaneously decreasing the risk for rescue workers.

By the end of the day, participating officers had expanded their perspectives on current international and national security challenges while gaining a comprehensive understanding of technological innovations that point towards potential solutions.

(Image 1, L to R, top row: CMIST Director Audrey Kurth Cronin and CMIST Deputy Director for Security Policy Studies Ralph López; bottom row: Heinz College Dean Ramayya Krishnan and Heinz College Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, David Eber; Image 2, Officers in the US Army War College International Fellows Program attend a briefing during their visit to CMU; Image 3, At the Biorobotics Lab, Matt Travers showed the fellows a robot “dog” that is able to operate in uneven terrain; Image 4, International military fellows test out augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies at the WiSE Lab, Image 5, The international military fellows had the opportunity to tour the AI Biometrics Center; Image 6, Learning about augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies at the WiSE Lab)