Air Mobility Command Pens Education Research Agreement with Saint Louis University

SCOTT AFB, IL—Air Mobility Command (AMC), the military command in charge of global airlift, aeromedical evacuation, aerial refueling, and the global air mobility support system from its home at Scott Air Force Base (AFB) and Saint Louis University (SLU) have partnered to promote academic research into technologies for future supply chains and transportation systems. 

AMC and SLU signed an Education Partnership Agreement (EPA), a voluntary, unpaid collaboration between Federal agencies and academia, to advance awareness and study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics topics.  The EPA allows sharing of government expertise and specialized facilities, workplaces, and equipment so students can conduct research on future transportation capabilities and technology of use to both the private and defense sectors. 

“The EPA will benefit AMC and SLU through cooperation in investigations that will span across a broad range of technical and operational challenges,” said Dr. Albert Lowas, the AMC Chief Scientist and initiator of the EPA.  “The government gets the opportunity for a fresh look at our future, and SLU students and faculty can access our experts and work on real-world supply chain problems, data analysis challenges, and many other technical opportunities. 

“It also promotes awareness of the Department of Defense as a major user of logistics capabilities and services, and it helps AMC to see what’s on the horizon—technologically as well as operationally.”

U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), the multiple-service Joint command at Scott AFB, to which AMC is the air component, is sponsoring the EPA for AMC.  USTRANSCOM uses agreements like the EPA to bring industry, academia, and government together to collaborate on transportation and logistics challenges and to understand the value of emerging technologies on USTRANSCOM’s future global missions.

“I’m enthusiastic about the potential for the partnership to enhance our curricula with practical challenges and exposure to real-world operations of a global supply chain, said Mike Lewis, Ph.D., SLU Provost.  “SLU has had many interactions with Scott AFB organizations, including USTRANSCOM and AMC in the past, and this partnership brings the collaboration to a new level.”

Under the EPA, USTRANSCOM, AMC and SLU will investigate a variety of technologies and practices that are of interest to supply chains and transportation systems today.   Initial topics include the use of small unmanned aerial vehicles for logistics operations, additive manufacturing (3D printing), emergency medicine, and aircrew fatigue studies, and may go in new directions, as the dialogue continues.

The EPA will extend for at least two years as the parties exchange information on today’s challenges and emerging solutions for logistics and transportation systems.

About Saint Louis University 

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers nearly 13,000 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.  For more information, visit slu.edu.

About Air Mobility Command  

Air Mobility Command serves as U.S. Transportation Command’s air component, executing the air mobility mission in support of the joint force, allies, and partners with a fleet of nearly 1,100 aircraft. The command encompasses Eighteenth Air Force, the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, the 618th Air Operations Center, 17 wings and two groups, which provide rapid global mobility from more than 100 locations worldwide.  Nearly 107,000 active-duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Airmen, and civilians comprise the air mobility Total Force, providing command and control of inter-theater and intra-theater airlift, air refueling, aeromedical evacuation, global air mobility support, and presidential and senior leader air transport in support of national interests.  For more information, visit amc.af.mil.

About U.S. Transportation Command

USTRANSCOM exists as a warfighting combatant command to project and sustain military power at a time and place of the nation’s choosing.  Powered by dedicated men and women, TRANSCOM underwrites the lethality of the Joint Force, advances American interests around the globe, and provides our nation’s leaders with strategic flexibility to select from multiple options, while creating multiple dilemmas for our adversaries.