Ultimate Classroom [Photo: ADF Careers]In each program a member of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) sets a problem for six teenagers arranged into two competing teams of three each. They quoted the then Defence Chief General Angus Campbell telling a Senate inquiry: “Not only is the Australian military failing to achieve planned growth, it is actually shrinking.” They found that the “black-and-white picture of ‘my country right or wrong’ has been muddied following media coverage of alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.” The Schools Pathways Program is a joint initiative of the federal, South Australian and Western Australian state Labor governments that explicitly targets STEM students, particularly in schools catering to students with a low socioeconomic background. In 2023, the Australian Education Union federal executive issued toothless statements criticising AUKUS and noting “with deep concern the recent launch by the Defence Department of a ‘Nuclear-Powered Propulsion Challenge’ in Australian schools.”