Report: Pentagon Says STEM Education Deficit is Weakening America

February 7, 2021 Topic: Education Blog Brand: The Buzz Tags: U.S. MilitaryPentagonSTEMSecurityArtificial Intelligence

Report: Pentagon Says STEM Education Deficit is Weakening America

The United States risks losing its competitive advantage if it continues with its business-as-usual approach and fails to equip its workforce with the education and skills to develop and field complex, cutting-edge emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, machine learning, and hypersonics.

The DIB report revelations provide further support to the Biden administration’s 2021 immigration plan that looks to relax the H-1B non-immigrant visa restrictions and set the conditions for foreign graduates with advanced STEM degrees from U.S. universities to remain in the United States. International students contribute more than $40 billion USD annually to the U.S. economy, enhance US global competitiveness, and enrich U.S. international alliances and partnerships. 

John Turner is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Staff Officer with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. John is a national security professional with 11 years’ experience analyzing Latin America, Asia, and Middle East national security trends, developments, and implications. John deployed to Afghanistan from June-December 2019 in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel and to Iraq in 2011 in support of Operation New Dawn. From 2014-2017 John served as an advisor to the U.S. Defense Attaché Office in Mexico City, Mexico. He is fluent in Spanish and is currently assigned to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He holds an M.A. in International Relations with a focus in Security Studies from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. John’s writing has been featured in National Interest, Defense One, and Small Wars Journal.

The views expressed in this article solely reflect those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Military, Department of Defense, or US Government.

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