In the struggle to break down race and class barriers, the US army has always played a prominent role. Black people occupy more management positions in the military than in any other sector of American society and the training offered by a career in the army has helped many to leave behind their working class roots. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the army is now pushing forward with an ambitious programme of online education.

The Army University Access Online Program launched in January this year and to be developed and operated by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the management consultants, is an educational web portal designed to give US soldiers stationed around the world access to university education. About 30 accredited US higher educational institutions are involved in the initiative and more are expected to participate as the programme is rolled out over the next five years.

With the US armed forces as one of the country's biggest employers, the programme will influence a wide section of US society. "This has tremendous implications for the global digital divide," says Joel Kurtzman, partner, global thought leadership and innovation at PwC.

"The army is an extraordinary institution from the standpoint of its human resources and its ability to train people with minimal requirements in complex technological areas. It is a force for change, and the people who come out of the army come back much better people, and people of much greater potential for society."

Each soldier enrolling in the programme will be given a laptop computer, a printer, internet access and an e-mail account. The idea is that soldiers can study from wherever they have been posted, in any time zone.

Technical support will be provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week, along with comprehensive academic tutoring services and counselling assistance. A web-based tutorial will be available to help those unfamiliar with using the internet.

The army estimates that 12,000 to 15,000 soldiers will participate this year, and that as many as 80,000 soldiers will have taken part by the fifth year of the programme.

Like any successful initiative of this kind, a large degree of self-interest lies behind the army's decision to go ahead with the investment. The online education programme will give the US armed forces personnel that are internet savvy and well equipped to deal with a world in which conflict is becoming increasingly dominated by technology.

In addition, as conflict becomes more complex, military personnel are being required to make better-informed and subtler decisions than in the past. "Situations are often highly ambiguous,” says Mr Kurtzman.

"For example, in conflicts in urban environments, you have combatants among ordinary people. It’s very ambiguous so decision-making has to be much better. But if you have access to universities and colleges and can read Plato, take maths courses and learn languages, the end product will be not only a more rounded soldier but also a soldier who's much better equipped to make either the technological or the more ambiguous decisions required today."

The other advantage of the programme for the army is that soldiers can earn their certificates, associate's degrees, bachelor's degrees and master's degrees while they continue to serve at their regular posts.

The flexibility of the training will help. A variety of starting dates and course methodologies are available for those enrolling in courses.

The army's project also brings with it considerable benefits for PwC, the programme's prime contractor. "We're developing our own resources," says Mr Kurtzman.

"We have 160,000 people working for us around the world and there's a half-life to their skills. Our people need constantly to upgrade their skill sets so we do it online face to face. This army project draws on our expertise but it also will add to our expertise - we'll learn as much as the army will learn in terms of how to do this."