Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) can track its heritage to a program founded in 1911 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, by Army Lt Edgar Z. Steevers.  At the time, Lieutenant Steevers was assigned as an inspector-instructor of the organized militia of Wyoming. During his assignment, he envisioned a noncompulsory cadet corps comprised of high school students. His program initially had public opposition, but in 1915, Lt Steevers managed to get the state of Wyoming to officially adopt the program, which became known as "The Wyoming Plan".   The General Staff of the U.S. Army took note and endorsed the program to the United States Congress.  Lt Steevers became recognized as a national expert on military training in public schools and left Wyoming for Washington DC. 

The National Defense Act of 1916 authorized a junior course for non-college military schools, high schools and other non-preparatory schools.  This act authorized the issuance of military uniforms to schools, the hiring of military personnel as instructors, and standardized the curriculum.  The Army implemented JROTC in 1916 and the FIRST official JROTC unit opened at Leavenworth High School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1917. 

 

Public Law 88-647, commonly known as the ROTC Vitalization Act of 1964, directed the secretaries of each military service to establish and maintain JROTC units for their respective services.  Air Force JROTC programs were opened in 1966 and comprised of 20 units that first year.

 

Initially only boys were allowed as cadets, but Public Law 93-165 amended the requirement that a Junior ROTC unit have a minimum number of physically fit male students, thus allowing female students to count toward the minimum students needed for a viable unit. In 1972 the enrollment included 2,170 females making up 9% of the corps. Since then the number of females has increased to 40% of the cadet corps.

In 2006, Shadow Ridge High School's program began with 167 cadets led by Lt Col Jerry Cooper, the unit's first Senior Aerospace Science Instructor.

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In 2020, the Air Force began to expand JROTC to include 8th grade level students from select middle schools and opened up the program to homeschool students. 

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In 2021, 10 units were slected to convert to the new Space Force JROTC program.