{"id":23414,"date":"2026-09-10T15:56:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=23414"},"modified":"2026-09-10T17:04:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T21:04:01","slug":"chief-of-national-guard-bureau-visits-purdue-to-discuss-national-security-military-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/Q3\/chief-of-national-guard-bureau-visits-purdue-to-discuss-national-security-military-education","title":{"rendered":"Chief of National Guard Bureau visits Purdue to discuss national security, military education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Purdue University leadership and toured key facilities Aug. 28 to see firsthand how Purdue is helping address the nation\u2019s evolving defense and security challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Indiana\u2019s sole land-grant university, Purdue maintains a strong connection to the military with a robust national security and defense ecosystem and resources for military members, veterans and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nordhaus\u2019 visit led up to the National Guard Association of the United States\u2019 148th General Conference and Exhibition<\/a> in Indianapolis on Aug. 28-31. Purdue University\u2019s online programs<\/a>, the Office of Industry Partnerships<\/a> (OIP), the Office of Research<\/a> (OOR), Purdue University in Indianapolis<\/a> and the Purdue Research Foundation<\/a> (PRF) supported the conference\u2019s States Dinner, which was attended by around 2,700 guard members, their families and government leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Several Purdue organizations, along with the Purdue Research Foundation, sponsored the States Dinner at the National Guard Association of the United States\u2019 148th General Conference and Exhibition in Indianapolis on Aug. 29. (Photo provided)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nordhaus, accompanied by John Raines III, senior enlisted advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, began the day at Purdue with a conversation with interim President Mitch Daniels and a roundtable discussion featuring leaders from OOR, OIP, Purdue\u2019s online programs, Purdue Global<\/a>, the Purdue Military Research Institute<\/a> and PRF. The discussion showcased Purdue\u2019s growing contributions to national defense through cutting-edge research, technology development and strategic partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office of Research supports work in defense-priority fields such as advanced manufacturing, aerospace, cybersecurity and semiconductors, while Purdue Research Foundation helps accelerate collaboration with government, aerospace and defense partners, and the Office of Industry Partnerships connects those organizations with Purdue\u2019s expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purdue University and Purdue Global provide accessible pathways for military-affiliated learners seeking to advance their education and careers, such as Purdue\u2019s online Master of Science in security in strategy and defense technologies<\/a> and strategic defense technologies graduate certificate<\/a> and Purdue Global\u2019s benefits<\/a> for military-affiliated students, including reduced tuition and the acceptance of military training and experience as academic credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nordhaus and Raines were able to see these strengths firsthand with tours of the Military Family Research Institute<\/a> (MFRI) and the Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, which houses the Center on AI for Digital, Autonomous and Augmented Aviation<\/a> (AIDA3<\/sup>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MFRI conducts research and outreach to inform policies and programs that support military-connected families, while helping service members and veterans access educational and employment opportunities. AIDA3<\/sup> unites researchers and industry leaders to develop AI-enabled aviation technologies that enhance autonomous operations, strengthen drone security, and improve logistics for both civilian and defense applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nordhaus and Raines also visited Purdue\u2019s ROTC cadets. Housed under the Purdue Polytechnic Institute\u2019s Division of Military Science and Technology<\/a>, the ROTC program was founded to uphold Purdue\u2019s commitment to the land-grant mission. The program combines rigorous academic education with military training to develop leaders who are equipped to serve their country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By engaging with Purdue\u2019s researchers, educators and military-affiliated programs, Nordhaus and Raines saw how the university is helping address the nation\u2019s defense and security challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Purdue University<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Purdue University is a research institution ranked among the top 10 public universities in the United States. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. As a land-grant university committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue\u2019s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n Media contact:<\/strong> Lindsey Macdonald, macdonl@purdue.edu<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Purdue University leadership and toured key facilities Aug. 28 to see firsthand how Purdue is helping<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":23411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"department":[],"source":[29],"purdue_today_topic":[],"coauthors":[207],"class_list":["post-23414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","source-purdue-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23414"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23419,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23414\/revisions\/23419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23414"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=23414"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=23414"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=23414"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=23414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}