JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- Recently, Headquarters Air Combat Command concluded its annual VICEROY internship program, an initiative designed to bridge top tier academic talent with critical national security operations. Sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, this 10-week program embeds highly qualified university students from across the nation directly into tactical roles at ACC, immersing them in military culture while empowering them to engineer solutions to immediate, real-world operational challenges.
Throughout the program, these scholars engaged with complex technical requirements across data science, cybersecurity, and operational logistics. The cohort drove innovation by modernizing data pipelines, advancing proactive risk management, accelerating defense acquisition pathways, and streamlining administrative processes.
“Our active participation in the VICEROY program yields a compound operational advantage for Air Combat Command,” added Dr. John Matyjas, ACC scientific adviser to the commander. “We immediately bolster our near term mission readiness through direct intern contributions to real-world projects. Simultaneously, we secure long term defense capabilities by mentoring highly specialized technical talent to develop a deep, practical understanding of tactical Air Force requirements.”
A primary milestone of the program involved the modernization of data workflows. In this effort, intern Kwun “Eric” N. Chen from the University of California, Berkeley, led a project that replaced labor intensive manual processes with automated Extract, Transform, and Load data pipelines paired with interactive visualization dashboards. This development reduced data latency from months to days, representing a 90% increase in operational efficiency via democratized data access and enabling non-technical staff to query complex datasets independently.
“With single-click retrieval, the database replaces legacy tracking methods with real time, actionable data, allowing ACC’s Command Chief, Chief Master Sergeant Jeremy Unterseher, to rapidly establish professional development priorities for all command chiefs,” said Youlonda Crockett, deputy chief Senior Leader Management. “Eric’s outstanding innovation successfully modernized the division’s leadership development pipeline, a key pillar in senior executive talent management.”
In a parallel effort, Sam Oliver, a student from the College of William & Mary, built a centralized Inspector General dashboard. By automating data ingestion and aggregation processes, this tool saved hundreds of man-hours and equips inspectors with precise, unit-level compliance metrics well in advance of scheduled site evaluations.
“Sam’s exceptional initiative in designing and implementing structured data dashboards has been a force multiplier for the IG’s daily operations,” said Rickey Rodgers, a mentor with the ACC/IG team. “The operational impact is significant and measurable. We’ve experienced a massive reduction in the time required to generate risk-based sampling for maintenance inspectors, as well as the essential Semiannual Inspection Council and Quarterly Inspections Working Group presentations used to inform senior command and Wing leadership.”
Adapting a proactive risk management approach, Aaron Mayo from the University of Texas at San Antonio, developed an artificial intelligence powered Safety Investigation Board benchmarking agent. Leveraging a retrieval augmented generation framework, the agent ingests thousands of historical safety reports, enabling safety professionals to utilize natural language queries to instantly identify systemic casual factors and process bottlenecks. This capability accelerates safety reviews into seconds of automated, data driven insight.
The cohort also confronted material and security vulnerabilities. Michael Russell from the University of Texas at San Antonio led a comprehensive effort to modernize the legacy U.S. Air Force flight glove. By executing market research and synthesizing pilot feedback, Russell established data driven technical specifications for a modernized, Safe-to-Fly glove compatible with modern glass cockpit touchscreens.
“The primary outcome of Michael’s work was the creation of an approved AF Form 1067 ‘Modification Proposal,’” noted Maj. Scott Neidrick, T-38 Adversary Air pilot and military advisor to the ACC scientific adviser to the commander. “By giving vendors pre-validated user needs and technical specifications up front, we can dramatically accelerate optionality in the acquisition process. Ultimately, this allows command leadership to make highly informed, rapid decisions and speed up the delivery of modernized, safe equipment directly to our aviators.”
To mitigate administrative overhead, Aaron Mayo further expanded his contributions by designing a specialized AI assistant trained on the complete Joint Travel Regulations. The “JTR Agent” can provide Department of War personnel with instant, content-aware answers to complex travel policy queries, substantially reducing travel voucher submission errors and accelerating reimbursement timelines that otherwise impose financial strain on service members.
To learn more about the VICEROY internship program, including host site and student opportunities, visit VICEROY Scholars.