NORTH VERNON, Ind. — Micayla and Daniel Pollard were beaming with pride. Up on a set of risers, their oldest child, 18-year-old Pfc. Devon Pollard, stood shoulder to shoulder with 46 other fresh-faced soldiers in crisp digital camouflage fatigues.

They are the members of the inaugural class of the new National Guard Patriot Academy, a pilot program aimed at giving young people a second chance at life and the National Guard a first crack at newly motivated soldiers.

The official opening ceremony, with state and national dignitaries and a flyover by Blackhawk helicopters, was Wednesday.

“Structure,’’ said Micayla Pollard, Indianapolis, summing up what she expects her son will get from the Patriot Academy. "And a chance to prove himself.’’

The program is housed at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, where the Indiana National Guard trains soldiers in urban fighting tactics, using settings found in cities in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 1,000-acre site previously was the Muscatatuck State Developmental Center and was turned over to the Guard in 2005.

In addition to the mile of tunnels, rubble piles and demolished buildings used for war training, the site has a school building, making it ideal for the Patriot Academy. The National Guard hopes to open academies elsewhere in the country, building on the Indiana model.

Participants must be ages 17 to 20, within 10 credit hours of graduating from high school and have been out of school for at least six months. They complete basic training before arriving at Muscatatuck; during the program, they must complete work for a high school diploma and then take college classes, perform community service work around Muscatatuck, continue military training and commit to eight years with the National Guard after finishing the nine-month program in March.

They also receive full-time military pay and benefits while they are in the program. Their rank at the end will vary, depending on their progress and emphasis.

The first class will grow by one more this fall, to a total of 48, and the program is expected to add students each year for a maximum of 500 in 2011. This year’s class is all male because barracks have not yet been fully set up, but women are expected to be part of the academy beginning next year.

First Lt. Kyle Key, public affairs officer for the academy, said diplomas for the first class will be issued by Liberty University’s online academy, but the Patriot Academy expects to have its own accreditation in about a month.

That high school diploma is important to Devon’s family, including his grandmother, Bertha Murray, who also was on hand for Wednesday’s ceremony. They weren’t happy when Devon dropped out of Arlington High School last year; yes, his father acknowledged, there were some raised voices.

Now, however, they are proud of the military career he plans. They also have come to grips with the probability that he will be sent to fight on foreign soil not long after he finishes at the Patriot Academy.

“War abroad, or war on the streets,’’ Micayla Pollard said, referring to the dangers young people can face.

“And at least he’ll be fighting for something,’’ Daniel Pollard added.