Photo By Sgt. 1st Class David Bruce | Pvt. Ashley Wojiciak finishes repacking her possessions after a shakedown inspection...... read more read more
BUTLERVILLE, Ind.— It has been a year of milestones for the National Guard’s Patriot Academy. First was the opening on Aug. 26, 2009. It was a new concept – a second chance to gain a high school diploma for National Guard Soldiers set in a military environment. On March 18 of this year, the Patriot Academy graduated its first class. Currently, a new class has started and a new precedent has been established. There are now female Soldiers attending the Patriot Academy.
Capt. Steven Conway, Company A commander at Patriot Academy, said while there are currently only a few female students at the Academy, by the end of fall there will be 20 to 25 female students.
“As the programs grows so will the population of female students,” said Conway. “The intent of the Academy is to have approximately 75 female students on the ground at any time.”
According to the Department of Defense, females account for approximately 13 percent of the active duty Soldiers. Presently, there are 128 students at the Patriot Academy. Of those students, 22 percent come from minority groups and 12 percent are female.
That is not to say that the Patriot Academy has been completely without females.
“Since the beginning, we’ve had female cadre and female teachers. We want to build the diversity of the Academy and become more of a cross section of the [American] population,” said Conway.
As with all change, there will be complications and unforeseen occurrences in the process, but the addition of females to the student body has been a smooth transition, said 1st Sgt. John Craig, Company A first sergeant at Patriot Academy.
“By becoming as diverse as possible, we strengthen the Academy in the long run,” said Craig. “As we increase the diversity of Soldiers here, we can attract more students that might feel more comfortable in a mixed environment,” said Craig.
Pvt. Sarah Jax learned of the Patriot Academy through her recruiter as an alternative to the GED program.
“I’m excited about being here. It’s good that the Guard is giving female Soldiers the opportunity at a second chance to get a high school diploma,” Jax said. “There are only four of us right now, but there will be more.”
The inclusion of female Soldiers into the Patriot Academy further increases the already wide diversity of the student population.
The current class at the Academy is a mix of Americans from a wide group of ethnic and racial backgrounds.
Pvt. Rigoberto Rodriguez grew up in El Paso, Texas. He doesn’t necessarily see himself as a minority, just another American that wants to serve his country and make something better for his life.
“We’re all Soldiers. Sure, being a minority with other minorities helps me to feel at home, but it doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable either,” said Rodriguez. “We have differences, but those differences do not matter. We are Soldiers.”
Extraordinary circumstances led Pvt. Tien Nguyen of New Orleans, La., to the Patriot Academy. Nguyen received a family sponsorship to come to America six years ago from VietNam. During Hurricane Katrina, he was one of the people rescued from the Superdome by National Guard Soldiers.
“Since then, I always wanted to join the National Guard. I wanted to serve my new country and community like the Soldiers that rescued me,” said Nguyen. “Being in America is an improvement over VietNam. I received my U.S. citizenship during Basic Training at Fort Knox. I haven’t been treated any different here because of my ethnicity.”
The demographic may be changing, but it’s business as usual for the Academy; allowing Soldiers to gain their high school diploma.
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2010 18:26 |
| Story ID: | 52624 |
| Location: | BUTLERVILLE, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 271 |
| Downloads: | 236 |
This work, Patriot Academy Diversifies Student Body, by SFC David Bruce, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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