Building rockets and better American citizens are just a couple of items on the agenda for the Air Force Junior ROTC Aerospace and Technology Honors Camp.

High school juniors and seniors from across the U.S. and some Department of Defense schools in Europe are testing their courage and skills at the camps in June and July.

“The military’s always intrigued me,” said camp participant Marcia Blackstock, 16. “I went into ROTC for the structured environment and discipline.”

The well-regimented camp curriculum starts with 5:30 a.m. reveille. Nearly every minute of the day is devoted to developing leadership skills and encouraging team work, including evening physical training, or PT, activities. Cadets dress in standard Air Force blue uniforms and assume military formations and practice drills, as though they are part of an active duty Air Force unit.

Activities for the week include tours of Tinker Air Force Base and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, speeches by high ranking military leaders, and the highlight for many cadets, flying a Piper Warrior aircraft.

“[Flying is] pretty surreal,” Josh Casey, a 17-year-old camp cadet said. “At first I was little freaked out, now I want to go get my pilot’s license next summer.”

Admission to the camp is highly competitive. There is no minimum GPA requirement, but the average camp participant’s GPA is 3.64. Applicants also must prove leadership abilities within their individual ROTC units, as well as involvement in extracurricular activities.

“We want to see a leader across the board, not just in a small area,” said Col. Steve Jones, camp coordinator. “We’re looking for a whole person.”

Students are chosen from more than 100,000 Junior ROTC cadets worldwide. Of those, 944 are selected for consideration, Jones said. They are ranked from one to 944 and through the ranking process, 432 are selected.

“When you’re dealing with over 100,000 [applicants] and you can only pick 432, there’s some really sharp kids,” he said. “They have to be taking AP science and AP math, because the No. 1 thing we’re interested in is engineering majors.”

Students expressed many reasons for wanting to attend the camp. Some are interested in leadership development, some in making new friends, and still others just want to fly.

“I’ve always known I wanted to be a pilot,” said Ashleigh Green, 16. “[My parents] were like, ‘But you’ve never been in a plane before.’”

Green’s parents agreed to let her fly the weekend before honors camp started to see if she liked it, she said.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I just realized I’ve never driven a car before, but I’ve flown a plane.”

Junior ROTC borrowed its name from its college-level counterpart, the Reserve Officer Training Corps, but the mission at the junior level is completely different, Master Sgt. Allen Burlison said.

“Our [focus] is on citizenship, character building and life skills — things that everybody needs,” he said.

Established in 2003, the camps were initially held in six different locations, but have since been narrowed down to Oklahoma and New Mexico, Jones said.

Many factors were considered in choosing OU as one of the camp locations. A strong ROTC detachment and engineering department, an aviation department with Piper Warrior aircraft and a nearby Air Force base all combined to create desirable conditions for consideration, according to Jones.

“We’ve had absolute superb support from OU from the beginning, and that’s another reason we keep coming back,” Jones said.

Since the camps began in 2003, 1,854 cadets have graduated. Of those, 57 have gone to the Air Force Academy and about 300 have received ROTC scholarships, Jones said.

“Not everybody goes into the military, so if they go out into the world and be productive Americans, that’s OK with us, that’s our main goal,” he said. “But when 57 go to the academy and 300 go to ROTC out of 1854, well, we’re real happy with that, because we know we’re getting some high-quality folks.”

The camp runs June 21 through 26. Graduation is scheduled for 7:15 a.m. Thursday.