Challenge Academy candidates transition from kids to cadets

By Capt. Michelle Baer

Wisconsin Army National Guard

For Sabrina Kerr of Fort Atkinson, Wis., the challenge in the Wisconsin National Guard's Challenge Academy program at Fort McCoy came early.

Like other at-risk 16-to-18-year-olds, Kerr agreed to submit to a structured, military-style environment, where state-certified teachers and counselors build participants' academic abilities, character, self-confidence and personal discipline. She exceeded the cadre's expectations during the first 10 days, but struggled with homesickness and left the program three times during the second week.

A-Day, or Acceptance Day, is when Challenge Academy candidates have to make a choice - tough it out, take the oath and become a cadet, or go home.

"They are busy today transforming themselves from candidates to cadets," Peter Blum, Challenge Academy acting director, said Aug. 3, the Acceptance Day for Class 29 candidates. "We are evaluating the candidate's performance within the first two weeks. If they don't conduct themselves like they want to be here, then we ask them to leave."

Kerr was not alone in struggling with being away from family and friends, along with the total change in daily routines or withdrawal from bad habits. She acknowledged that her lifestyle before attending Challenge Academy involved staying up all night, sleeping all day and eating junk food.

"I knew I had to stay," she said. "I wanted to change and go to college. I wanted to be sober and have a relationship with my mom.

Kerr admitted that it was challenging to accept the regimented schedule and the culture shock that comes with building a different lifestyle.

"You have to push yourself through it," she said.

Austin Beoisle of Neenah, Wis., a fellow cadet, has already noticed an improvement in discipline and self-respect. 

"Here, I mean something to somebody, and everybody means something to me," he said. "We help each other with everything."

Kerr said that part of succeeding at Challenge Academy is being able to work past the emotional hardships that will arise from being away from home and learning to make better life choices.

"But I am a strong person, and I can do it," she said. "And that is why I am still here. I feel proud to be here."

"I know that this is who I am going to become for the rest of my life," Beoisle said. "It feels good to have the acceptance of my family. Through this program, I can turn my life around and head in the right direction."

After graduating from the 22-week residential phase of academy training, cadets are paired with hometown mentors who offer guidance and encouragement in pursuing their new direction in life.

Dempsey Urges Alma Mater Grads to ‘Push the Envelope’

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, returned to his high school alma mater today to encourage the John S. Burke Catholic High School graduating class to embrace new opportunities in a demanding, fast-changing world.

The chairman addressed the graduates of the school, based in Goshen, N.Y., in an auditorium at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from which he graduated in 1974.

“Push yourself to explore space you haven’t considered before, to lead where leadership is required and to keep options open -- because life will deal you changes and challenges you’ll have to figure out,” Dempsey told the 2012 class.

“The future will find you,” he said. “Be ready.”

Dempsey and his wife Deanie both are Burke High graduates, and he was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2003. He told the new graduates today he’s never forgotten his roots, and how his own high school experiences prepared him for what was ahead.

Recognizing the many high achievers in this year’s class, the chairman cautioned them not to rest on past accomplishments. “No matter how successful you’ve been up to this point, you need to keep working to be better than you think you can be,” he said.

It’s a lesson he said he learned quickly after arriving at West Point with his solid Burke record. “I realized that I had to keep getting better,” he said. “I realized that never settling for mediocre is one of our enduring national traits. As a nation, we dare to be great.”

Dempsey urged the students to be willing to take the risks as they “push the envelope” and embrace new opportunities.

“Many of you will exceed your wildest imaginations,” he said. But in doing so, he encouraged them to stay true to their moral compasses and never lose sight of their values. “Prioritize what’s most important to you,” and keep those priorities in order, he said.

As they apply the lessons they’ve learned to overcome obstacles they confront, Dempsey urged the class to serve, whether in the military or other endeavors. He congratulated those headed to military academies or ROTC units, and said other graduates may find their calling to serve in other vocations.

Dempsey said he looks forward to seeing the new graduates make a difference and impact society as they help influence the future.

“Your life takes on meaning only as the causes to which you attach yourself have meaning,” the chairman said. “The greatest value of a life is to spend it for something that lives after it. “

“In the end, you become what you are through some cause you have made your own,” he concluded.

Wisconsin Challenge Academy to honor 106 graduates and scholarship recipients

One hundred and six cadets from 38 counties will graduate from the Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy in a noon ceremony Saturday (June 9), at Stevens Point Area Senior High School.

The Challenge Academy re-shapes the lives of at-risk 16-to-18-year-olds. It uses a structured, military-style environment and state-certified teachers and counselors to build cadets' academic abilities, character, self-confidence, and personal discipline.

After graduating from the 22-week residential phase of academy training, cadets are paired with hometown mentors who offer guidance and encouragement in pursuing their new direction in life.

Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch is scheduled to address graduates along with their parents, relatives, mentors, and friends on hand to celebrate their success.

Twenty-eight states and Puerto Rico offer similar programs nationwide. More than 100,000 teens have successfully completed the National Guard youth programs since 1993. In Wisconsin more than 86 percent of cadets who finish the program receive their high school equivalency diploma (HSED), and more than 80 percent stay out of trouble with the law.

The Wisconsin Challenge Academy will begin its next class July 19. Applications are available for future classes by contacting the Challenge Academy at (866) 968-8422 or visiting their website.

Deputy Secretary Discusses Strategy With Academy Faculty

By Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Fincham

U.S. Military Academy

WEST POINT, N.Y.  – Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter sat down with some of the U.S. Military Academy's leading thinkers on military strategy, doctrine and history here this week to gain their insights into the Army's past and future.

Carter visited West Point as the keynote speaker for a cyberdefense conference.

"I realized that since I was going to be at West Point -- and West Point is one of the intellectual centers, as well as training centers of our armed forces -- I wanted to have an opportunity to tap into the expertise and knowledge in the social sciences department and the history department," he explained.

Carter spoke with the U.S. Corps of Cadets Commandant Brig. Gen. Theodore D. Martin and several other faculty members about lessons learned from 10 years of war, and his thoughts on the way forward.

The discussion offered different insights and perspectives from the faculty for Carter to share with other Defense Department and service leaders.

The deputy secretary encouraged the academy’s faculty to help "blaze the trail forward for the Army."

"I wanted to encourage the faculty to help us make this great transition that we're embarked on from the era of a focus on Iraq and Afghanistan to the problems that are going to define the countries' future," Carter said.

"These kinds of turning points in history are the times when you especially need to draw on the kind of depth that you find at a place like West Point," he continued. “Here you have historians who have looked at conflicts over decades and centuries and eons and where you have people who are cutting-edge social scientists who are thinking on behalf of the country and the future."

Regardless of what the future holds, the Army's mission will be to fight and win our nation's wars. Carter said that having conversations like this will undoubtedly pay dividends as the Army will play an essential role in the way forward for the nation's defense strategies.

"The Army is, by its nature and tradition, focused on the human dimensions of conflict and conflict prevention," he said. "The Army and its doctrinal thinking is going to be key in moving the whole national security perspective into this next era. That's why I think their perspective is so valuable.

"I was incredibly impressed by the faculty and the kind of insights that they have. We are so fortunate to have an institution like this working on our behalf at this time," he concluded.

Wisconsin Challenge Academy plans open house in Milwaukee

Wisconsin Challenge Academy representatives will conduct an open house and informational session Monday, Nov. 21 for applicants to the academy's next class, which begins Jan. 12, 2012. The event will be held at the National Guard armory, 4108 N. Richards St., from 3-7 p.m.

From 3-5 p.m. Challenge Academy staff members, cadets, and parents of cadets will be available to speak with teens and parents who have an interest in the academy and to assist them with the application process. Educators, health and social services personnel, and juvenile justice officers are also welcome to visit at that time. A presentation by admissions personnel for potential candidates will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The tuition-free Challenge Academy offers "at-risk" youth the opportunity to change the direction of their lives. Challenge Academy cadets participate in the academy's eight core components - academic instruction leading to a Wisconsin High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED); job skills training; physical fitness; health, hygiene and nutrition; leadership; life-coping skills; responsible citizenship; and service to community.

The program is for male and female applicants at least 16 years, 9 months, but not yet 19 years old, who have been expelled, dropped out of high school or, due to truancy, have fallen more than one year behind in credits. Applicants must not be currently charged with or previously convicted of a felony and must not be on adult parole or probation. Cadets attend voluntarily - the academy is not open to placement by court order.

Sea Cadets Embark Aboard USS Makin Island

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Andrew D. Wiskow, USS Makin Island (LHD 8) Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) embarked 42 Sea Cadets from the Naval Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC) July 5-8 to get a first-hand experience of life at sea on a modern Navy warship.

The NSCC program is sponsored by the Navy League and is a federally chartered, non-profit youth organization whose charter is to acquaint high school age youths with the Navy and guide their interest in military service. Founded in 1958, it is run by an all-volunteer force and supported by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.

Sea Cadet Seaman Noreen Domingo, from Anaheim, Calif., has been a Sea Cadet for two years. She said her time aboard Makin Island has been a great experience.

"We've been able to see flight operations and well deck operations. We got to see an Osprey land on the flight deck. I really liked seeing the Air Boss at work in primary flight control. I think I want to be an Air Boss one day," said Domingo.

Sea Cadet Seaman Constantine Spyrou, from Sunnyvale, Calif., joined the Sea Cadets 15 months ago. He said he would definitely recommend this experience to others.

"The ship is a lot busier than I thought it would be. When you see movies about the Navy, it doesn't seem as busy as it is in real life," said Spyrou.

According to Domingo, the Sea Cadets embarked aboard Makin Island are all from different units, but they were all selected as part of their training known as Petty Officer Leadership Academy (POLA).

"We're all E-3s, and POLA is part of our training to become Sea Cadet petty officers," she said. "Not all Sea Cadets get to go to a ship. Some are sent to shore commands. But I think that getting to go to a ship is the best."

Many of the young people in the Sea Cadet program go on to enlist or become officers in all branches in the U.S. military. For those embarked aboard Makin Island, this summer training equips them with experiences that can only be learned in the fleet, and they said they will carry the experience with them forever.

Makin Island is currently off the coast of California conducting sea trials in preparation for an upcoming deployment.

Military Cadets Mostly Feel Safe From Sexual Harassment

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 23, 2007 – Most students at the Army, Air Force and Naval academies say they feel safe from sexual harassment when on or off campus, according to findings contained in a 300-page report based on the latest Defense Department-commissioned survey on the subject. The most recent report, titled, "Service Academy 2006 Gender Relations Survey," was conducted by the Defense Manpower Data Center in March and April. The third of a series of such surveys mandated by Congress, it was administered to students at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., and the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo.

Participants included 2,080 female and 3,969 male students. The overall response rate was 86 percent.

The survey measured five categories of unwanted, gender-related behaviors: sexist behavior, crude or offensive behavior, unwanted sexual attention, sexual coercion, and unwanted sexual contact, according to the report.

Of all female students polled who said they'd been sexually harassed, the vast majority said the transgressor was male. Yet, depending upon the time and place, the overwhelming majority of cadets -- both male and female -- said they felt safe from sexual assault on the grounds of their campus. Most respondents also said they felt safe from sexual harassment off campus.

About 10.5 percent of the women and 1 percent of the men polled at the USMA said they'd experienced unwanted sexual contact during the 2006 academic year. Unwanted sexual contact includes attempted intercourse or unwanted touching of genitalia and other sexually-related areas of the body.

At the Naval Academy, 8.2 percent of women and 1.4 percent of men said they'd been sexually harassed. And 9.5 percent of the women and 1.2 percent of the men surveyed at the Air Force Academy said they'd experienced unwanted sexual contact.

Almost all students polled at the three academies said they'd received training in sexual-assault prevention and response in the year prior to taking the survey. The majority of respondents also said they believe academy leaders are dedicated in stopping sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Questions about stalking behaviors related to sexual harassment were added to the 2006 survey, because Congress expanded the legal parameters of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 2006 to make stalking a crime. The vast majority of respondents said they'd not experienced stalking during the school year.

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