WASHINGTON - Courage.
That's what Trevon Dorsey-Mabry, 18, told Army Gen. Frank Grass, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, it took for him to embrace the second chance he found through the National Guard's Youth ChalleNGe Program and turn his life around.
Dorsey-Mabry, a graduate of the District of Columbia National Guard's Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy, quoted the late Nelson Mandela to Grass and other senior National Guard and civilian appointed and elected leaders here Tuesday:
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
More than 130,000 young men and women who dropped out of high school and once saw uncertain futures looming ahead have graduated the program. The National Guard has 35 Youth ChalleNGe academies in 27 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and officials said Tuesday the program will expand further to help more at-risk youths in more states and territories.
"I am so proud of everyone involved in Youth ChalleNGe," Grass said. "I am so proud of our courageous cadets - and the staff who help them transform themselves."
Dorsey-Mabry was one of a dozen D.C. cadets and graduates who got to spend time with senior leaders, including retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John Conaway.
"We want you to get an education and be a productive citizen of the United States," Conaway told the Capital Guardian cadets. "Over 130,000 graduates are not incarcerated; they're not dead; they're not in trouble with the law - they're out adding value to America, which is the goal of the National Guard day-to-day."
In his 1990-1993 tenure as chief of the National Guard Bureau, Conaway guided the birth of both Youth ChalleNGe and the State Partnership Program that includes 68 unique security partnerships involving 74 nations. Guard members consider the two programs among the crown jewels contributing to the National Guard's key missions to fight America's wars, guard the homeland and build partnerships.
"We weren't sure about taking [on Youth ChalleNGe] at first, because we're a readiness organization," Conaway confided, "but what better readiness is there than helping the youth of America graduate … and to help them add readiness to America?"
Dorsey-Mabry, once directionless and afraid, is just one of those 130,000 now adding readiness to America. "It's been an amazing journey from the time I started ChalleNGe to this point," he said. "It's been amazing how ChalleNGe has influenced my desire - and my ability - to be successful. The ability to grind through, to persevere and fight for what you want and get past the negativity in life is what ChalleNGe is about."
Like so much the National Guard does, Youth ChalleNGe draws on enduring partnerships, in this case between the National Guard Bureau, state governments and local sites. A recent independent study found participants in the voluntary 17-month program are 29 percent more likely to attain a high school diploma or equivalent than high school dropouts who don't attend; 86 percent more likely to attend college; and have 20 percent higher earnings. Some 39 percent of ChalleNGe graduates continue education, 47 percent join the workforce and 5 percent join the military.