Faculty Development Programming
VECTOR offers a variety of faculty development programming. Some programs are offered recurrently while others are by-request. The team is available to work with school representatives to customize programming that is specific to your organization's needs.
Please reference the 2026-2027 VECTOR Programming Catalog for more information.
See also Course Dates for AY26-27.
On Demand Resources
For on-demand resources on instructional strategies and related topics, visit our digital collection here.
Faculty Consultations
The VECTOR team represents expertise in learning technology, educational development, instruction, communication, research, and other related fields. We are available for confidential 45-minute one-on-one faculty consultations, held either in-person or virtually.* Book an appointment or email us at au.the.vector@us.af.mil to collaborate on topics including, but not limited to:
- Designing curriculum (identifying competencies, drafting lesson objectives, building assessments, etc.)
- Implementing active learning strategies
- Teaching in multiple modalities (hybrid, face-to-face, distributed, etc.)
- The scholarship of teaching and learning
- Communication skills
- Teaching strategies
- Implementing learning technology into instruction
- Using Microsoft 365
*Faculty consultations are available for educators and staff directly affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Soooo, what is MSS? In short, it is an AI layer on top of sensor data. The general idea is to accelerate operations, especially the targeting cycle. For users, it is a desktop application that reflects user-curated points of interest, options, and workflows. Additional details follow signature block.
The recent war against Iran has provided an opportunity for senior leaders to showcase MSS use.
This video below is from the DOW’s Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) Cameron Stanley.
The demonstration of MSS in action begins at 6:30, but the whole video is worth watching to understand how senior military leaders see MSS… this is the coming of the Third Offset (which I’m sure many of you remember reading about a decade ago).
In sum, MSS has enabled the US military to fight Epic Fury in the manner it has, and will continue to be central to planning and operations moving forward.
If you have trouble viewing this video, click here to go to original video location.
MAVEN Smart System Education Sources
Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare by Katrina Manson
The first is a recent book by Katrina Manson (currently a journalist with Bloomberg). Her publication timing couldn’t have been better timed with current operations in the Middle East. The book details the establishment of Project Maven as a project led by USMC Col Drew Cukor.
The book is well-written and interesting, but those content to skip the office drama and cut to widespread AI use in war might read the intro and then jump to US involvement in the Ukraine-Russia fight.
According to Manson, Maven machine detects of targets (or rather “points of interest” as interviewees carefully said) were crucial to US efforts to assist Ukraine targeting—the US provided points of interest and the GPS-aided munitions. At a high, the US relayed over 200 points of interest a day.
If you don’t have time for the book, Manson hits many of the points in a March 26 CSIS interview found here. You might listen to the first 8 minutes then skip to 31:30.
The second source is Secretary Hegseth’s January 9, 2026 memo to the DOW regarding AI.
Per the secretary, “This transformation is a race - fueled by the accelerating pace of commercial AI innovation coming out of America's private sector. The United States Military must build on its lead over our adversaries in integrating this technology…”
A quick review of this document demonstrates encouragement to run fast with AI. The Secretary sees our lead in the AI realm as a strategic advantage that must be captured.