FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – Scott Gabner ended up at the Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy the way many cadets do.
He wasn’t doing well in school and often skipped out of school early. So, he decided to enroll at the KSCA.
Two years after graduating from the academy and earning his GED certificate, Gabner is now a private first class in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and works full-time at the Unit Training Equipment Site at Fort Indiantown Gap.
“I feel like it was definitely a very good decision for me to go to the academy, get my GED [certificate] and then join the military,” Gabner said. “There were some rough days, but overall, everything worked out pretty good.”
A Lot of Structure
A native of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, Gabner attended Palmyra Area High School before enrolling at the KSCA. A guidance counselor there gave him information about the academy, and Gabner decided to enroll.
Established in 2022 at Fort Indiantown Gap, the KSCA uses a military academy-style training model to provide structure and discipline for youth ages 16 to 18 and prepare them with skills they will need as adults.
Gabner, 19, said he expected it to be more of a boot camp-type atmosphere and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t.
“I thought was going to be like a basic training, but it wasn’t really a boot-camp type thing,” he said. “It was more of like schooling, but if you did something not good, they would put the physical training aspect into things. It definitely had a lot of structure to it.”
But life at the KSCA was not easy, Gabner said. He didn’t mind it at first, but he began to get homesick after a while.
“They sent us home for a home pass, and when we came back, I started to miss home, and I didn’t really care as much,” Gabner said. “Then the cadre started pushing it into me that, ‘Hey, this is important. You need to get through this so you can get your GED [certificate].’”
Gabner persevered and eventually earned his GED certificate and graduated from the KSCA in May 2023. Initially, he didn’t have plans to join the military but did so at the urging of a friend.
He graduated from Basic Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in December 2023, then graduated from Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gregg-Adams (previously known as Fort Lee), Virginia, in April 2024.
Gabner now serves as a wheeled vehicle mechanic with Delta Co., 128th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and has worked full-time at UTES since September 2024.
“This was not what I was expecting at all for myself,” Gabner said. “I wasn’t really expecting to have a good job, and now I live with my good friend who I went to Basic Training with. I wasn’t expecting that either. I thought I was going to live with my mom and my dad for the rest of my life.”
A Critical Messenger
Gabner’s success hasn’t just surprised him.
Kyle Mann, post-residential coordinator at the KSCA, recalled that when Gabner was at the academy, he did not want to be there.
“He probably was in my office 25-plus times begging me to help him go home, and instead, I helped him endure the process and see the bigger picture,” Mann said.
Mann said he was proud of Gabner when he got a job immediately after graduating from the academy, but he was surprised when Gabner enlisted in the National Guard.
“I had to take a second look and make sure it was Scott Gabner, the guy who didn’t want to be at the KSCA, a National Guard program, and he was enlisting in the National Guard,” Mann said. “He did a really good job there, and he told me it was the best decision he ever made.”
Since starting work at UTES, Gabner has been back to the KSCA to talk to current cadets several times, and Mann said that’s very helpful.
“He’s a critical messenger,” Mann said. “I can stand in front of these guys and tell them things until I’m blue in the face, but I’ve never done it. He’s a guy with the same story – not thriving, not doing well, wanted to quit when he was here, but persevered, stuck it out and now he’s 19 years old making 28 dollars an hour. It’s a nice thing to show these young people that it can be done if you put in the work.”
Gabner said he enjoys the opportunity to talk to current cadets. He said he never imagined doing it when he was a cadet.
“Some of them are going through hard times, like I did,” Gabner said. “I try to motivate them since I was in their shoes.”
Mann said Gabner embodies what the KSCA tries to do, noting that the program’s success at the KSCA isn’t if a cadet graduates. That’s only the beginning, Mann said.
“The success of the program is what kind of person are you in the community,” Mann said. “Are you a productive citizen? Do you have a job? Are you giving back to the world? And he’s a perfect example of a responsible, law-abiding citizen who enlisted in the U.S. military and is a federal employee. He’s definitely not being a drain on society.”