“The President gave us a clear mission: achieve Peace through Strength.
We will do this in three ways — by restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence — ”
Secretary Hegseth’s Message to the Force [012525]
By Dr. Randall W. Hill, Jr, Vice Dean, Viterbi School of Engineering, Omar B. Milligan Professor in Computer Science (Games and Interactive Media), Executive Director, ICT
As the Executive Director of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, a Department of Defense (DoD) University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), I stand resolute in affirming our institution’s vital role in ensuring the security and technological superiority of the United States Armed Forces.
When Secretary Hesgeth called for peace through strength, the mission could not have been clearer. We must rebuild, deter, and most importantly—evolve. At USC ICT, we do exactly that by researching, developing, and delivering cutting-edge tools that enhance decision-making, accelerate skill acquisition, and equip our military leaders to survive and prevail in tomorrow’s complex battlespace.
ICT is one of 15 UARCs in the USA. However, our global competitor maintains at least 68 university-based research centers, all developing crucial military technologies supervised by China’s defence industry agency, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND).
We must not diminish the crucial investments that sustain our nation’s UARCs. To do so would be to erode the very foundations of our military advantage at a time of rising geopolitical tension.
MEASURING IMPACT
At ICT, we do not build slides—we build systems. From our geospatial research pipeline which led to One World Terrain, now a Program of Record delivering real-time virtual environments for mission rehearsal, to PAL3, our mobile AI tutor platform deployed by the Navy for continuous learning and skills sustainment, we take concepts off the whiteboard and into the field. We’ve created 18 DoD wargaming solutions, deployed at places including the National Training Center and Camp Pendleton, giving commanders the tools to out-think, outmaneuver, and outlast their adversaries.
We are advancing Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2) systems to match the speed, scale, and ambiguity of future combat. Our research integrates artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and natural language processing to turn disjointed battlefield data into synchronized, actionable intelligence. Our SCOPxE system enables shared, real-time battlefield visualization across echelons—ensuring every decision-maker operates from a unified, trusted picture.
We train minds and sharpen leadership. ELITE, our virtual human-led instructional platform, is now a prerequisite for Warrant Officer School. It enables Soldiers to rehearse critical skills with realistic scenarios and real-time feedback. We’ve saved the Army over $2.9 million annually with our Supervisor Development Course Refresher, cutting 40 hours of training to just 10 while preserving learning outcomes for over 18,000 personnel.
We are not just building tools—we are reshaping education and readiness for the AI era. Our AI Research Center of Excellence for Education (AIRCOEE) addresses two fundamental questions: How do we use AI to improve learning? And how do we train the force to harness AI as a strategic asset? With PAL3, ARC, AWE, Meta-Tutoring, and AI-UP, we are embedding intelligence into instruction and preparing the 21st-century warfighter.
We understand human limits, and we build to overcome them. Through our Human Performance research, we track cognitive fatigue in real-world exercises and deliver predictive insights to optimize leadership performance under stress, and save lives. We tackle the growing threat of deepfakes, not only generating them to strengthen detection models, but building adversarial training pipelines to fortify our information integrity.
In our hands, text-to-avatar digital twins and synthetic characters are not gimmicks—they are tools for warfighter realism, collapsing the timeline for creating photorealistic, physics-driven characters from months to seconds. And as our adversaries exploit synthetic media for manipulation, our research equips the DoD with countermeasures and training environments rooted in truth and precision.
Moreover, we have pioneered methods to detect unauthorized AI use in tactical decision-making—without needing access to the AI’s internals. Our approach focuses on human-AI behavioral mismatches and has shown detection accuracy exceeding 80%. This guards Next Generation Command and Control (C2) infrastructure against subtle manipulation.
TRUSTED PARTNER
As a UARC, ICT is uniquely positioned to operate as a trusted, mission-driven partner to the Department of Defense. Unlike private industry, our allegiance is not to profit margins or shareholder returns, but to warfighter outcomes and national security.
Our researchers support the full life cycle of defense innovation: defining requirements, providing subject matter expertise, participating in source selection (non-voting), and collaborating with Program Executives and Programs of Record (PoRs).
This direct alignment with DoD priorities ensures that our work is agile, cost-effective, and tailored to the needs of those in uniform.
Programs born at ICT—such as One World Terrain (OWT), ELITE, JFETS, UrbanSim, and the Mobile C-IED Trainer—are no longer research projects; they are operational systems transforming how the U.S. military trains, plans, and fights.
INFLUENCING INDUSTRY
The impact of ICT’s innovations extends beyond defense. Our early contributions to immersive technology helped catalyze the commercial explosion of head-mounted displays. Our 2012 FOV2GO system transformed smartphones into 3D viewers and inspired platforms like Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard.
Oculus later sold to Meta for $2 billion, generating billions in taxable value for the U.S. economy. These American innovations all bear the fingerprints of ICT’s research lineage.
Our Vision & Graphics Lab’s HDR imaging now enhances cameras and TVs worldwide. These are dividends from defense investment that return value across industries and borders.
SECURING THE FUTURE
From Fort Bliss to Fort Leavenworth, from Project Convergence, I/ITSEC and out to virtual battlefields on demand, ICT’s footprint is undeniable.
Our mission is focused, our allegiance unwavering, and our value proven.
We are not a vendor. We are a national security asset.
Our work is not theoretical—it is operational.
We believe continued investment in USC ICT is not merely an expenditure—it is a commitment to strategic dominance, human superiority, and national survival in the face of rapidly advancing threats.
USC ICT exists to ensure the United States does not just keep up—we lead.
USC ICT — Talking Points for DoD and National Security Stakeholders
Strategic Mission Alignment
- USC ICT is a DoD University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) — our only client is the warfighter, and our only mission is national defense.
- We were created to ensure that U.S. service members are the best trained, best informed, and most adaptive force in the world.
- While China has 68 defense-affiliated R&D centers, the U.S. has only 15 UARCs
Command and Control: ICT’s Flagship Contribution
- Modern warfare demands Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2): fast, data-driven, and cognitively optimized.
- ICT is leading this transformation by:
- Developing SCOPxE, an immersive C2 platform allowing commanders and subordinates to share a real-time, 3D operational picture across echelons.
- Integrating AI, natural language processing, and geospatial analytics to compress decision timelines and enhance mission rehearsal.
- Developing SCOPxE, an immersive C2 platform allowing commanders and subordinates to share a real-time, 3D operational picture across echelons.
From Research to Real-World Impact
- Our technologies are not hypothetical. They are deployed, used, and proven:
- One World Terrain (now a Program of Record) allows rapid generation of 3D terrain data for mission command and rehearsal.
- ELITE and PAL3 are AI-powered training systems adopted across Army leadership schools and Navy learning programs.
- CVIT/SDC-R cut 40 hours of training down to 10—saving $2.9M annually in supervisor development alone.
- One World Terrain (now a Program of Record) allows rapid generation of 3D terrain data for mission command and rehearsal.
Trusted DoD Partner
- As a UARC, ICT provides:
- Program support: from requirements definition to subject matter expertise.
- Non-voting source selection support: ensuring tech alignment with mission needs.
- Program of Record transitions: over 10 ICT-developed systems are now part of the Army’s operational infrastructure.
- Program support: from requirements definition to subject matter expertise.
Human Performance and Decision Superiority
- ICT tracks cognitive fatigue, stress, and decision quality under pressure to inform better command choices.
- Our research with NTC leadership revealed that 50% of senior leaders were cognitively impaired within 36 hours of an exercise—unaware of their degradation.
- We are now building predictive tools to alert commanders before their performance drops—preserving mission readiness.
Guarding Against Cognitive Threats
- We lead adversarial AI research to detect and defend against deepfakes and AI-assisted misinformation.
- Our team developed an approach to detect unauthorized AI use in tactical decision-making, achieving 80% accuracy—without needing internal access to the AI.
Innovation That Returns to the Nation
- Our research sparked commercial breakthroughs:
- Our 2012 HMD prototype inspired platforms like Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard.
- Our HDR imaging algorithms now power smartphone cameras and displays worldwide.
- Oculus sold to Meta for $2B. Meta’s HMDs have generated $20B+ in taxable revenue—defense R&D that paid America back.
- Our 2012 HMD prototype inspired platforms like Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard.
What’s at Stake
- ICT’s work is shaping the future of military readiness, decision superiority, and training at scale.
- Reducing support to this UARC would be a strategic loss in an era defined by speed, AI-driven threats, and global competition.
- Investing in ICT is investing in command superiority, national security, and American leadership
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