“Developing Mach-21 Airmen” podcast explores Project NEXUS

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas – A look inside Project NEXUS is the focus of episode 18 of Air Education and Training Command’s “Developing Mach-21 Airmen” professional development podcast series, released Oct. 23.

On the pod, the AETC public affairs team sits down with Capt. Kyle Palko, Project Nexus project manager discusses the Air Force prototype program designed to test a method of empowering Airmen to solve problems organically in units.

Created by AETC’s Technology Integration Detachment and hosted by AFWERX in Austin, Texas, the project is teaching Airmen to solve problems in software or data-science that they personally see day-to-day instead of requiring reliance on an outside contractor. 

Palko talks about the data-science and software development capstone projects the Airmen have spent the last few months working on, as well as conversation on the thought “we learn at the boundaries of our understanding,” and how to win over skeptics who think the philosophy can’t be put into action in their particular training environment.

The professional development podcasts are designed to help communicate and inform Total Force Airmen across the globe on relevant, timely topics related to the recruiting, training, education and development fields and can be listened to on the government network on the AETC website, or via mobile application as well as on Apple Podcasts (iTunes). For Android or Google mobile users, the podcast can be found on their favorite third-party podcast phone application.  

Future episodes are set to cover a wide range of topics, including the classroom of the future at the Inter-American Air Forces Academy, a partnership between NASA and Pilot Training Next, and much more.