About
DoD STARBASE offers challenging “hands-on, minds-on” activities in Science, Technology, Engineering & Art/Design, and Mathematics, where students might design space stations, all-terrain vehicles, and submersibles on the computer. Students work on projects in areas such as Scalextrics, robotics, rocketry, engineering, physics, FIRST LEGO League, solar cars, chemistry, technology, and aerospace. During activities, students use metric measurement, estimation, calculation, geometry, and data analysis to solve questions, and they may discuss how chemical fires are extinguished, how injured people are transported, and explore the cockpit of an F-18 or the interior of a submarine.
• Ages: 10–18 years old
• Schedule: 25 hours of exemplary hands-on instruction and activities that meet or exceed the National Standards.
The program’s mission is to expose youth to technological environments and positive civilian and military role models found on Active, Guard, and Reserve military bases and installations, nurture a network of collaborators, and build mutual loyalty within communities by providing 25 hours of exemplary hands-on instruction and activities that meet or exceed the National Standards. DoD STARBASE is a premier educational program sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, with locations spread across the United States and its territories. Each academy uses an inquiry-based curriculum with “hands-on, minds-on” experiential activities, choosing a customized curriculum from a large offering of peer-reviewed learning opportunities in each STEAM area, with mathematics embedded throughout and teamwork stressed as students work together to explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate concepts.
Military volunteers lead tours and give lectures on the use of STEAM in different settings and careers, and students interact with military personnel to explore careers and observe STEAM applications in the “real world.” Academies are located in different branches of the military, and the program’s success relies on collaboration between the sponsoring military unit and STARBASE Academy, the school district, and local communities. Under the guidance of Brig. Gen. David Arendts, 127th Wing Commander at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, the program continues a history that began in 1991 in Detroit, Michigan as Project STARS, expanded with congressional funding in 1993, and later added STARBASE 2.0 in 2010, which was rebranded in 2021 as STARBASE Advanced for secondary students.
STARBASE Advanced is a structured afterschool mentoring program for middle school and secondary students that is highly structured and intended to help support school goals by increasing student interest and knowledge in STEAM, increasing engagement with school, and increasing STEAM career awareness, with mentors serving as successful STEAM professional coaches and role models. The primary focus of DoD STARBASE is the program for fifth graders, and students may also participate in STARBASE Advanced offerings as they move into middle and secondary grades.
Parents and teachers have shared feedback about the program, including a teacher at STARBASE Minnesota who said, “I had pretty high expectations for the program, and my son was very excited in the months and weeks beforehand, but I could not have anticipated the high quality of our experience.” Another teacher stated that “STARBASE teaches science and mathematics in ways that we wish we had the time, resources, and expertise to do in the regular classroom. It’s experiential, exploratory learning with a direct tie to the Standards.” A student, Jessica from STARBASE Minnesota St. Paul, said, “After STARBASE I want to ask more questions like ‘how is it doing that?’, ‘where did that come from?’ and figuring things out.”
Last updated March 14, 2026.
• Ages: 10–18 years old
• Schedule: 25 hours of exemplary hands-on instruction and activities that meet or exceed the National Standards.
The program’s mission is to expose youth to technological environments and positive civilian and military role models found on Active, Guard, and Reserve military bases and installations, nurture a network of collaborators, and build mutual loyalty within communities by providing 25 hours of exemplary hands-on instruction and activities that meet or exceed the National Standards. DoD STARBASE is a premier educational program sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, with locations spread across the United States and its territories. Each academy uses an inquiry-based curriculum with “hands-on, minds-on” experiential activities, choosing a customized curriculum from a large offering of peer-reviewed learning opportunities in each STEAM area, with mathematics embedded throughout and teamwork stressed as students work together to explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate concepts.
Military volunteers lead tours and give lectures on the use of STEAM in different settings and careers, and students interact with military personnel to explore careers and observe STEAM applications in the “real world.” Academies are located in different branches of the military, and the program’s success relies on collaboration between the sponsoring military unit and STARBASE Academy, the school district, and local communities. Under the guidance of Brig. Gen. David Arendts, 127th Wing Commander at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, the program continues a history that began in 1991 in Detroit, Michigan as Project STARS, expanded with congressional funding in 1993, and later added STARBASE 2.0 in 2010, which was rebranded in 2021 as STARBASE Advanced for secondary students.
STARBASE Advanced is a structured afterschool mentoring program for middle school and secondary students that is highly structured and intended to help support school goals by increasing student interest and knowledge in STEAM, increasing engagement with school, and increasing STEAM career awareness, with mentors serving as successful STEAM professional coaches and role models. The primary focus of DoD STARBASE is the program for fifth graders, and students may also participate in STARBASE Advanced offerings as they move into middle and secondary grades.
Parents and teachers have shared feedback about the program, including a teacher at STARBASE Minnesota who said, “I had pretty high expectations for the program, and my son was very excited in the months and weeks beforehand, but I could not have anticipated the high quality of our experience.” Another teacher stated that “STARBASE teaches science and mathematics in ways that we wish we had the time, resources, and expertise to do in the regular classroom. It’s experiential, exploratory learning with a direct tie to the Standards.” A student, Jessica from STARBASE Minnesota St. Paul, said, “After STARBASE I want to ask more questions like ‘how is it doing that?’, ‘where did that come from?’ and figuring things out.”
Last updated March 14, 2026.
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