By Army SGT Wayne Woolley
Photo by SPC Robert Neill
New Jersey National Guard

TRENTON, N.J., (August 29, 2009) - The graduates-to-be stood at parade rest in purple gowns, hands clenched behind their backs, mortarboards in place.

Black-clad drill instructors moved through their ranks, warning them not to make a sound.

In less than an hour, the 105 cadets of the New Jersey Youth ChalleNGe Academy Class 30 would walk across the stage here at Trenton’s War Memorial, shake hands with some very distinguished visitors, including America’s highest-ranking military officer, and receive high school diplomas in front of family members roaring with applause.

But first, a few more minutes of the discipline that had marked their every waking moment for the past 22 weeks as these young people went through an intensive National Guard program at Fort Dix that uses discipline and community service to help at-risk youth turn their lives around and graduate from high school.

More than 2,500 teenagers have completed New Jersey’s program since it launched in 1992.

SSG Gerard Tanner, one of the drill instructors, barked his last order as Class 30 prepared to take the short walk to the stage today. “Make us proud,” Tanner shouted.

As they filed out, Tanner, a 51-year-old Army combat veteran with a masters’ degree in social work, turned to a visitor and grinned. “These kids have already made me proud. You’ve got some bright kids here. I guarantee you a lot of them are going to go on to do great things.”

The New Jersey National Guard leadership always strives to bring in a distinguished commencement speaker and certainly hit the mark with Class 30.

Navy ADM Mike Mullen, the four-star chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest ranking military officer, handled the honors.

He congratulated the cadets for making the difficult decision to enroll in the ChalleNGe program and for their families for supporting them.

“To want to make a change is not easy at any age,” Mullen said. “To make that decision at your age is to be commended … you are going to be our leaders in the future.”

The admiral said the ChalleNGe program, which is funded by the Department of Defense and coordinated nationally through the National Guard Bureau, is among the many programs provided by the National Guard.

“We would not be the military we are, we would not be the nation we are and, indeed, New Jersey would not be the state that it is without the National Guard,” Mullen said.

Although the objective of ChalleNGe is to produce productive, high school graduates, many of the cadets go on to enlist in the military. In fact, 42 Soldiers from the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which returned from Iraq in June, are ChalleNGe graduates.

At the ceremony Saturday, MG Glenn K. Rieth, New Jersey’s adjutant general, swore five of the ChalleNGe graduates into the National Guard.

Clive Hinds, the distinguished graduate of Class 30, said he’s considering joining the military as well, but first wants to attend college.

The 18-year-old from Hackensack, N.J., said the discipline instilled in the ChalleNGe program helped him channel the anger that once got him in trouble.

“This program really helped calm me down and focus,” Hinds said. “I can’t say enough good things about ChalleNGe and the cadre.”

His mother, Andrie Hinds, agreed. “My son is so patient now, I almost didn’t recognize him,” she said. “He always was a good boy. He just needed a push in the right direction. I’m so grateful he got it.”