♪♪♪ All: One, two, three, four... Narr: At the Academy for Academic Excellence in Apple Valley, Junior ROTC is core to a cutting-edge education.

Now, it also represents a cutting-edge military service for the U.S. Space Force.

This is one of the first ten Space Force JROTC programs established nationwide.

It's the only one in California and the only one at a charter school.

The academy is operated by the Lewis Center for Educational Research.

Dr. Lisa: Were one of the inaugural units, one of the first ten ten to transition from Air Force Junior ROTC to Space Force.

Narr: The school is located in a steeped in military tradition.

And many of the students feel an old fashioned responsibility for that tradition, even in a routine inspection.

Caprice: Ready, face.

Caprice: We are a military unit.

We are modeling the military.

This is not just some uniform we put on every day or it's not just some uniform that we can just mess around with.

It's modeling those that are fighting for our country.

I definitely do have a sense of pride when I wear this uniform because I know I'm a part of something bigger.

-Ma'am?

Cadet specialist... ready for inspection, maam.

Narr: The Academy's previous Air Force Junior ROTC program won multiple awards.

But it still took a years-long application and review process - a process slowed by COVID - before the program finally transitioned from the Air Force to the Space Force in 2021.

Misaki: Honestly, the transition has been amazing.

I have always been really mesmerized by space as well as astronomy and just all the connections that we receive being part of Space Force is just stellar.

Tyler: Our school is actually partnered with NASA so it's really cool as we're able to go and visit Space Force bases.

And besides that, we're actually able to visit our local, uh, JPL, so, Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

And we're able to firsthand interact with scientists there, especially those that are seeking careers in space.

♪♪♪ Narr: Those careers aren't just in space, and they're not just in the military.

Half of the Space Force is civilian.

-Right now, the one on the right that you see up here is DSS-28.

Narr: And only 2% of this programs students will go on into some branch of the service.

That means the curriculum taught by the school's Air Force veterans must focus on preparing these kids for jobs that didn't exist a generation ago and weren't even conceived of when men first flew to the moon.

Col. George: I've been teaching Mercury, Gemini and Apollo because none of them were born when this happened.

And if you look at the mission of Space Force, you know, uh, its basically a hundred miles above, and above that theyre in charge.

So, were talking satellites, were talking, you know, spacecraft, were talking all the communications with all of those, um, computer-- all the computer security.

So, literally those are career fields that they, you know, my students can jump right into.

Master Sgt.

Harold: It prepares them to properly interview for jobs, learning how to write resumes.

You get to put down, I was in charge in finance, $50,000... handling $50,000 throughout the school year.

I mean, what teenager can say that.

Narr: And that, for the students, means reaching for dreams they may not have realized they even had.

Tyler: I feel like its gonna start sparking more of an interest in it instead of that childhood fever dream of, I want to grow up to be an astronaut.

People are gonna start seeking fields as scientists or astronomers.

♪♪♪ Narr: But this program doesn't just develop future titans of interstellar technology.

These kids are also developing a personal skill set that will help them lead their generation into the future.

For some of them, that's tougher than the academics.

Col. George: I think leadership is both a science and an art.

You know, you have people that are born leaders, but you have people that learn leadership.

And I think most of my students are learning how to be leaders as... as they go through the program.

>>: Thank you.

Take your position in flight.

>>: Yes, sir.

Misaki: I had never really had the opportunity during my earlier years of high school to allow myself to develop as a leader because I didn't really have the opportunities or I didn't - I was too shy.

I was too afraid of taking things head on and I was too afraid of just letting myself be out there.

But ROTC has taught me that it's okay to make mistakes.

Narr: For these young pioneers, Space Force is anything but the final frontier.

It is, in fact, only the first of many.

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