Goals for the Internship Program

• Bring together young, fresh, “out-of-the-box” thinkers to work on some of the greatest challenges facing USSTRATCOM and the United States of America.
• Engage students to instill an understanding and appreciation for efforts undertaken by the U.S. Government and support building the replacement cadre of government civilians necessary for the 21st century.
• Provide actionable recommendations as solution sets for implementation by the requesting command or representative.
• Solidify relationships with the nation's finest academic institutions.

Projects are identified by presenting a “call for topics” to a wide variety of potential customers including USSTRATCOM Headquarters, its Joint Functional Component Commands, other Combatant Commands, and government civilian agencies. Submitted topics are vetted by J9 leadership for identification with USSTRATCOM mission sets, impact to the warfighter, and timeliness of the issue. Final approval of topics is signed off by USSTRATCOM leadership.

Interns are selected from academic institutions with which the J9 already has established relationships. Candidates are recommended by Department Head and senior faculty who are asked to submit their best and brightest graduate and under-graduate students for nomination. Applicants are individually interviewed and selected based on the multi-disciplinary requirements of the projects. Interns are hired as Government Service (GS) Civilian employees under the Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP) and work part-time at the J9 for the entire semester for which they are selected.

Projects are completed during a single academic semester. Initially, each team is brought together and presented with the research topic. The first two weeks of the program are used to complete a preliminary review of the topic and narrow the research focus to address the prioritized concerns of the customer. Research progresses through a literature review and continues with outreach to recognized experts in the field by way of virtual connections and face-to-face meetings. Unlike most existing intern programs, a travel budget provides funds for personal visits to existing centers of excellence on the topic at hand.

The interns’ work is monitored very closely as they complete milestones and present updates to J9 leadership and the customer through three Internal Progress Reviews (IPRs), with specific expectations for each phase. The research effort culminates with a written report and a presentation, given by the interns, to the USSTRATCOM Commander and Senior Staff representatives from the organization which originally presented the topic. Follow-on briefings and meetings may be necessary as recommended to provide the findings and recommendations to other end users of the information.