One still has burn scars on his palms, earned during hours of push-ups on burning hot pavement.
One said he was attacked, beaten with a homemade blackjack while he slept.
One said he developed post-traumatic stress disorder.
These teens who enrolled at the Maryland National Guard Freestate ChalleNGe Academy in previous years have a lot to say about their experience as cadets in the program — not much of it good.
A boot camp for at-risk youth, the program promises teens and their families a strict structure, housing and food for 22 weeks, along with the opportunity to study and take the GED — a potentially life-changing offer for many of these youth.
But three cadets interviewed by The Baltimore Sun say they were forced to exercise without water breaks until they passed out or vomited, and that it wasn’t unusual for teens to be airlifted from the camp at the Aberdeen Proving Ground by helicopter. Sergeants on staff, they say, made them exercise in dangerous conditions, including doing push-ups on burning hot pavement until their palms burned and scarred.
They said camp staff organized fight clubs where they encouraged or allowed teens to fight one another after hours, and that many teens in the program never earned their GEDs — a major component of Freestate, and one that is vital given that teens must drop out of school to enroll.
Some are too old to be readmitted to public school if they drop out or don’t complete their GED at Freestate, as Nathanael Royal, the cadet who says he was beaten by other teens in the program, discovered.
The cadets told The Sun they feared the other teens in the program, some of whom claimed to have gang ties and were at times violent. In addition to the homemade blackjacks and nocturnal attacks that took place during the 30-minute window in which the guard changed shift, Royal and one of the other cadets The Sun interviewed — two of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation by former cadets — recalled regular fights that erupted in the stairwell as teens passed one another. Those fights, they said, staff watched silently without interference.
Some cadets made shivs out of the metal forks they ate with and hid them under the floorboards, Royal and another cadet from his year said. At a certain point, the cadet said, the staff stopped allowing them access to the forks.
While some thrive in the ChalleNGe Academy setting, Royal and other cadets said the experience was anything other than positive.
Royal told The Sun he was awoken in the middle of the night and attacked by other cadets wearing black T-shirts tied around their faces, beaten in the head with a homemade blackjack, and that staff were aware of this pattern of attacks. He and his family say they reached out to the camp after the attack, and when the staff dismissed their concerns, his parents disenrolled him from the program.
“We are aware of concerns raised about incidents at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Maryland Military Department Public Affairs Manager Chazz Kibbler said in an emailed statement. “We take any allegation of misconduct or unsafe conditions seriously. In cases where investigations substantiated misconduct, appropriate actions were taken to address the matter.”
Kibbler declined to say what their investigations found and what changes were implemented afterward, instead directing The Sun to file a Maryland Public Information Act request.
“FCA remains a life-changing program for youth across Maryland, which is why it has strong support from former cadets, families and communities,” Kibbler said.
A chance at a GED
Royal entered Freestate with hopes of earning his GED.
After years of struggling with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, unable to focus in class and being passed on despite failing grades, by high school Royal didn’t understand much of the material. Rather than admit it, he avoided the pain point — school.
Although his teachers liked him, mother Shayna Royal said, he earned three of the eight credits he was supposed to earn in his freshman year. As a sophomore, he earned zero credits and regularly slept in or locked his bedroom door to avoid his mother taking him to school, father Jason Royal said.
When he did go, Jason said, his son spent his time roaming the halls or hiding in the bathroom rather than sitting in class.
“I couldn’t focus on the work,” Royal said. “I didn’t want to be there.”
The high school, Bel Air’s C. Milton Wright High, called a meeting with the Royal family at the end of his sophomore year, Shayna said. That day, a vice principal suggested they look into an alternative schooling placement and presented them with several brochures.
Together, Royal and his parents chose the state’s ChalleNGe Academy, a tuition-free program Congress founded in 1993. The program allows 16- to 18-year-olds to study for and earn their GED, as well as vocational training certificates and set up a recruiting pipeline for the National Guard and other military branches. Freestate is one of the 10 original ChalleNGe Academies founded.
The fact that he could earn his GED in a year was appealing, Royal said, and it seemed like a better choice than the alternative school the vice principal suggested.
ChalleNGe academies largely target troubled or at-risk youths. Program requirements state that applicants must be at least 15½ years old, be at risk of dropping out of high school or have already dropped out, and may not be on probation or parole. In order to attend, they must drop out of school.
But Royal did not earn his GED there, as he disenrolled early after the attack, he said. Another cadet The Sun interviewed said he didn’t earn his either, nor did many cadets in his year, calling the education aspect lacking.
Former director Keith Dickerson, who ran the camp at the time Royal was enrolled and stepped down in April 2024, disputed the characterization of the program.
“ChalleNGe is not a GED program,” he said in an email to The Sun. “ChalleNGe is founded on eight core components that program participants must successfully complete to be a ChalleNGe graduate. Yes, taking the GED test is part of the program, but that is an added bonus,” he said.
“The program doesn’t award the credential; it is earned,” he said.
The ‘troubled teen industry’
Research shows the ChalleNGe Academy setting can be a beneficial experience for many. The program promises parents and teens discipline, a set environment and is free to attend. For many, it can help them turn their lives around, get them away from bad influences or break bad habits and set them on a path to success.
Indeed, a 2009 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation survey of ChalleNGe Academy cadets who completed the program and a control group showed that cadets were more likely to obtain a high school diploma or GED, be working and attending college, and have better health and higher levels of self-efficacy than the control group. They were also less likely to have been arrested.
Still, the program bears significant resemblance to programs in the “troubled teen industry,” wilderness or re-education camps parents can enroll their children in that begin with said child being kidnapped in the middle of the night from their bed by strangers and subjected to extreme conditions and requirements for weeks or months on end.
Programs such as wilderness therapy and boot camps for at-risk or troubled youth can be traced back to the 1958 cult Synanon, a drug addiction rehabilitation center that used attack therapy, isolation, limited freedom and rewards for compliance in said teens, according to an oral history of the “troubled teen industry” by a University of New Hampshire researcher. Hallmarks of such programs often incorporate some of these methods, such as isolation, exhaustion through physical exertion and rigid rules, which Royal and other cadets said they endured at Freestate.
‘Serious facility issues’ shut the camp down temporarily
The Sun requested information on how many cadets had earned their GEDs through the program in the past five years, organized by class, as there are two classes a year. The full information has not yet been provided; however, Kibbler told The Sun that during Class 64, the last class to go through the program, 38 of 56 cadets earned their GEDs.
It is not clear if the 18 cadets who did not earn a GED took the test or dropped out.
Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, the state’s adjutant general who oversees the National Guard and its programs, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
Calls to program leadership were not answered or returned, and Director Kisha L. Webster did not return calls or emails. Through Kibbler, she declined an interview.
Freestate temporarily closed in early September due to what Kibbler called “serious facility issues,” including leaking condenser lines and a broken sewer pipe.
“In response, FCA shifted operations to a temporary location at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, anticipating only a short stay,” Kibbler said. “After further evaluation, however, it became clear the new facility could not be brought up to federal installation requirements and was not a permanent solution.”
Class 65 was given the option to continue in other ChalleNGe academies or withdraw. Ten transferred to Washington-based Capital Guardians ChalleNGe Academy and four to New Jersey’s ChalleNGe Academy. Others pursued GED testing directly with support from Freestate staff, Kibbler said.
The state plans to reopen the camp in January for the next class, Class 66.
Did you or someone you know participate in Freestate? What was your or their experience? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.
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