Kirtland AFB Welcomes 400 Student Leaders for All-Star Leadership Day

Roughly 400 high school student leaders from across central New Mexico spent a half-day at Kirtland Air Force Base on March 19 touring aircraft, attending leadership workshops and connecting with active-duty Air Force and Space Force members during the base's All-Star Leadership Day.

The 377th Air Base Wing, which operates Kirtland under the Team Kirtland banner, organized the event as part of a broader national initiative. According to the 377th Air Base Wing, All-Star Leadership Day "is a strategic initiative aimed at providing high school student leaders and influencers with immersive exposure to U.S. Air Force and Space Force career opportunities in communities adjacent to Department of the Air Force installations." The Air Education and Training Command has described the program as "designed to honor student leaders."

The half-day schedule included leadership workshops, interactive demonstrations, aircraft tours and hands-on career-related activities, with students engaging directly with service members to learn about the range of jobs available across both branches. The 377th Air Base Wing described the participants as "high school students and peer group influencers," a designation that suggests the base deliberately recruited students with social standing among their classmates, not just high academic achievers.

Airman Maurice Casilla documented the event on video for the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, producing a 16-second reel that was posted to the DVIDS platform the following day, March 20.

Kirtland AFB sits on Albuquerque's southeast edge and is home to a range of Air Force and Space Force missions, making it a natural venue for demonstrating the breadth of military career paths available to young New Mexicans. No participating schools were identified in available materials released by the base.