Cadets from the Challenge Academy program at Fort McCoy lend a hand Oct. 22, 2009 during a Homes for our Troops construction project. The home is being built for Jason Schulz, a disabled Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran and a 2004 Challenge Academy graduate. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Vaughn R. Larson, Wisconsin National Guard)


WEST ALLIS, Wisc., (10/23/09) -- The cold and the rain could not dampen the enthusiasm in Spc. Jason Schulz's heart.

A few yards behind Schulz, dozens of volunteers were helping construct a 2,350-square-foot home specifically designed for him by the non-profit Homes for our Troops.

When completed, the home in an upscale neighborhood in Eagle will feature counters, showers, doorways and other amenities suited for a man with Schulz's challenges.

Almost two years ago on Nov. 7, 2007, Schulz was an active-duty Soldier, an Abrams tank mechanic returning from a vehicle recover mission in Mosul, Iraq when a roadside bomb ripped through the salvage and recover wrecker he was riding in. The blast nearly severed his right hand and took both legs.

Among the volunteers were 30 cadets from Challenge Academy at Fort McCoy - current students in the program Schulz himself graduated from in 2004 as a 17-year-old from West Allis.

"I was just having a hard time in high school," he said.

His mother, Teresa Amick, elaborated.

"He was on a bad road," she said. "Gang stuff, hanging around the wrong people. He was stabbed in the leg one time and wouldn't tell me who did it. He had no structure."

That changed at Challenge Academy, which offers high school dropouts or habitual truants the chance to earn their high school equivalency diploma, learn life and job skills as well as how to become responsible citizens.

"It really helps a lot of people out," Schulz said. "It really helped me out. It helped me graduate high school, taught me values and leadership."

"He said when he went there, he learned what real morals were," his mother added. "He was very, very proud of himself - he got self-esteem. We kept on him to do something. He decided to join the Army at 17."

Schulz told the visiting cadets that basic training was "a walk in the park" after attending the Academy.

"It was a good experience," he said of the Academy. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. Trust me - you'll be a better person."

Academy Deputy Director Peter Blum said that a project such as this matches up well with one of the core principles cadets learn - community service.

"It's what we call a 'high payoff,'" Blum said. "They're helping out a fellow cadet who walked in their shoes. It couldn't fit any better."

Cadet Stewart Miller, 17, agreed. "This is very important," he said. "Jason is our brother. He came to the Academy with the same problems, and that makes him family. We help out our brothers and sisters."

"It's always good to help a fellow cadet," said Cadet Mark Zimmerman. "He obviously needs this [house] very much."

Amick said this is why she called the Academy to ask for their help during the three-day build-up.

"I wouldn't have called if it didn't mean so much," she said. "This is something [Jason] would have done. They learned to look out for each other at Challenge Academy. That's something that stayed with him."

Schulz and his wife, Polina, an Army specialist at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, are expecting their first child in two months. He said he wants to go to college, and intends to get a power wheelchair when their daughter is born.

"I can't hold her and move around at the same time in this chair," he explained.

Schulz has yet to receive his prosthetics, and still uses a manual wheelchair. He said he is looking forward to walking again when he receives his prosthetics.

His mother said she has seen the challenges her son faces in a conventional home. "It's very heart-warming to know he'll have a roof over his head the rest of his life," she said.

That's because the house, estimated to cost $275,000, will not cost Schulz a cent. Larry Archer, Build Brigade construction manager for Homes for our Troops, said each home is built with volunteer labor and donated materials.

"I enjoy my freedom very much," said Archer, who has been with Homes for our Troops the past two years. "[This is] my way of giving back."

Blum said that is a message he wants his cadets to take away from this experience.

"This fits in with what we're trying to get these kids to understand," he said. "In the past they'd been taking from society, and now they're giving of themselves."

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Kimberly Hanscom