Air Force ROTC at Duke: Building Tomorrow’s Leaders

We see them every day — attending classes, grabbing lunch at the WU, dropping by office hours or catching the C1 bus. From dorms and libraries to lecture halls and Cameron Stadium, they’re tightly woven into the fabric of campus life. For these student cadets in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AFROTC), balancing the demands of college with the commitment to serve and to lead are defining parts of their Duke experience. 

And at a university celebrated for shaping future leaders, the AFROTC program offers one of the most direct pipelines: from college to commissioned officer in the United States Air and Space Forces.

Open to all students, regardless of major, the AFROTC program combines classroom learning with real-world experience. Cadets study leadership and military science on campus while applying those lessons through hands-on training and immersive summer programs on bases around the world. And for cadets who aren’t quite sure if a career in the Air or Space Force is the right path, non-scholarship participants can explore the program for their first two years at Duke without committing to military service. 

“Our cadets study Air Force heritage, customs and courtesies, leadership and followership,” explains Lieutenant Colonel Bradley G. Maxon, Commander of Duke’s AFROTC Detachment 585 and chair of Aerospace Studies. “They’ll graduate the program with the skills, discipline, integrity and confidence to lead in service to our nation.” 

These opportunities aren’t limited to only Duke students, though. Since the 1970s, the AFROTC program has partnered with North Carolina Central University (NCCU), with roughly one-third of Detachment 585 currently comprised of NCCU students. 

This partnership has created more than just a shared detachment; it’s built a community. Duke and NCCU cadets train side by side, united by a common sense of purpose, respect and camaraderie that transcends campus loyalties. And while their paths to AFROTC may differ, the reasons for joining often echo the same themes: a desire to give back, to serve, to push themselves and to discover what they’re capable of. 

“Our point of contact at NCCU is Dean Arwin D. Smallwood, who happens to be a Detachment 585 alum,” Lt. Col. Maxon shares. “He has been an exceptional partner and advocate because he knows, firsthand, the life-changing impact this program has on young people.”

By placing a strong emphasis on community, engagement and participation, the AFROTC program helps cadets develop leadership skills that extend far beyond the detachment, shaping how they contribute to organizations and projects across campus and within the community. These skills in leadership, teamwork and service learning also translate into tangible achievements while at Duke.

For the past three years, the detachment has won the North Carolina Patriot Games, a sporting event among all North Carolina Air Force detachments. And Detachment 585 recently earned the Right of Line Award for the top small detachment in the country: recognizing cadet performance, scholarships awarded, recruitment efforts and officer production. “We awarded $175,000 in fly grants in 2024, we have the highest overall performance in field training and our cadets have the highest GPAs in the Southeast region,” explains Lt. Col. Maxon. 

The AFROTC program is comprised of four main elements:

• Aerospace Studies is a weekly class where underclassmen learn history, leadership, followership and Air Force heritage.
• Leadership Laboratory brings all cadets together for joint training led by junior and senior cadets under cadre (leadership) supervision. Sessions include lectures, guest speakers, military skills practice, uniform inspections, problem-solving exercises and expeditionary training in Duke Forest.
• Physical Fitness focuses on running and calisthenics, strength training and other cardio to ensure cadets are in line with active-duty fitness expectations. Cadets periodically undergo the Air Force physical fitness assessment to evaluate fitness levels.
• Drill and Ceremonies teach the standard marching fundamentals of military movements and formations.

It’s a “crawl, walk, run” mindset, where first-year cadets learn Air Force basics from history to how to wear a uniform. While the training follows a clear path, the students themselves don’t fit a single mold. Some grew up in military families while others can’t differentiate between a captain and a sergeant. “Prior military experience isn’t required,” Lt. Col. Maxon stresses, “and students entering the program with no military background succeed just as well as those with Junior ROTC or high school Civil Air Patrol experience.”

In high school, Cadet Luke Wang had never pictured himself in uniform — but with one sister serving in the U.S. Army and another in the U.S. Navy, he decided to apply for the Air Force ROTC High School Scholarship. “I was inspired by my sisters’ decisions to serve, and I wanted to give back to the nation that gave my parents the opportunity to immigrate here,” says the Statistics major. “I also wanted to grow my self-discipline, try something unfamiliar and explore the Air Force’s broad range of technical careers like information operations, intelligence and public affairs.” 

And with the launch of Duke’s SPACE Initiative, cadets like Wang now have the chance to engage with cutting-edge programs that align directly with the future of the Space Force. 

“The SPACE initiative will give our cadets early access to build knowledge in a variety of areas, from space law and commerce to technical projects and equipment development,” Lt. Col. Maxon explains. “For those simply fascinated by space, it will provide opportunities to engage with research and exploration, allowing cadets to go deeper than the fundamentals taught in the Detachment.”

Because of the SPACE initiative, cadets will build a broader foundation before entering the Space Force and gain a wider range of experiences to study, participate in and contribute to the evolving field of space — and for those passionate about it, the initiative offers a significant advantage over detachments on college campuses that lack a dedicated space program.

“The commissioned officers coming from our program will be the leaders focused on space and driving our national initiatives,” Lt. Col. Maxon says, “with that passion and focus starting here at Duke.” 

Lt. Col. Maxon adds that the AFROTC program prepares cadets not just for graduation but also for a career as commissioned second lieutenants in the Air or Space Force. From there, the opportunities are virtually limitless. With 127 officer career fields currently to choose from, cadets can follow nearly any path — piloting aircraft, leading logistics operations, serving in military police, analyzing intelligence or even pursuing medical school. And for those with aspirations in medicine, the Air Force offers programs that also cover medical school costs.

“Our mission isn’t just to build outstanding lieutenants for the Air Force — it’s to develop impactful leaders and quality citizens,” Lt. Col. Maxon stresses. “Even for those who don’t go into the military, we want them to take the inspiration they’ve found here at Duke and use it to make the world a better place.”