Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Craig Crenshaw, the Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, and Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia, cut a ribbon to symbolically open STARBASE Blackstone with Nikole Johnson, the program’s director, Aug. 8, 2025, in Blackstone, Virginia. Ring and Johnson also gave remarks at the event at the Virginia National Guard’s Blackstone Readiness Center. The academy is the second VNG STARBASE location after STARBASE Winchester, which opened in 2012. STARBASE is a premier Department of Defense educational program aimed at educating youth through hands on science, technology, engineering, art and design and math activities. Read more about STARBASE at https://vngpao.info/STARBASE and https://dodstarbase.org.