Hall of Fame inductee built skills needed for decorated Army career at Thomas Jefferson

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, August 24, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Cory Scharbo was a 135-pound wrestler at Thomas Jefferson around the time of the new millennium.

He also competed in track and cross country before graduating in 2001. A few months later, he enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

Scharbo earned a slew of commendations as he went from being a private in the U.S. Army to his current rank of lieutenant colonel.

One of his latest honors was being inducted into the West Jefferson Hills School District Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2025.

Despite his awe-inspiring career credentials, Scharbo was gracious and honored to be selected for the district’s fourth HOF class.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to the committee for this incredible honor. It’s truly humbling,” Scharbo said. “I give all the credit to the wonderful teachers, coaches and administrative staff who developed me during my time at the school district.

“My induction reflects their success and the wonderful education and sports programs I experienced throughout my time in the district. Teacher and coach mentorship throughout my time in the district really set me up for a successful career and a meaningful future.”

Scharbo said he also was surprised to be honored.

“I was very surprised,” he said. “The administrative email I initially received went to my junk/spam email file. So, I first saw the announcement on the WJHSD Facebook site.

“I was then able to find the initial email announcement I missed. But yes, I was verry surprised and excited. There are a lot of qualified applicants each year, so it meant a lot to me that I was recognized for my achievements.”

Scharbo graduated from IUP in 2005 and was commissioned a second lieutenant through the ROTC program.

He held various leadership positions while stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., and Fort Campbell, Ky., from 2007-2014.

From 2014-23, Scharbo served in various Army Force Management roles while stationed in Vincenza, Italy, Fort Riley, Kan., and the Pentagon.

He currently is serving in an active component position at the National Guard Bureau’s Architecture, Data and Standards/Compliance Division as the deputy division chief.

Scarbo’s operational deployments include stints in Iraq, Afghanistan and Poland.

“Growing up in the WJH school district instilled discipline, resilience, health and fitness and challenging academics,” Scharbo said. “I still have fond memories of the old Roosevelt School, being in the first fifth-grade class at Jefferson Elementary, walking the old halls of Pleasant Hills Middle School and finally graduation from the old TJ High School.

“TJ is a place where hard work, dedication and teamwork are engrained in everything you do. It’s hard to imagine I would be recognized for academics. I was an average student at TJ, but I learned to challenge myself in many ways and of course to never quit.”

Scharbo was inducted in the academics category along with six other men.

“From the classroom to the wrestling mat, track, cross country meets, student volunteering and work programs, these experiences served me well in college and throughout my military career,” Scharbo said. “During my early days in the Army, I was the guy that could beat everyone in the two-mile run thanks to coach Chuck Stout and Keith Pancoast.

“The never-quit, hard-work mentality I got at TJ served me well during Ranger School, leading troops in combat and solving difficult Army problems. It’s been quite a ride thus far; it will be 23 years as a soldier this December.”

Scharbo’s motivation to join the Army was initiated by the 9/11 terror attacks.

“That changed the trajectory of my life,” he said. “I was pursuing a history education degree at IUP — motivated by some of our legendary teachers at TJ, George Wilson and Tom Sharkey, to name a couple. At 8 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, I was sitting in my military science class when the airplanes hit New York City, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania.

“Without the wonderful development throughout my time at WJHSD and at IUP, I don’t think I would have recognized such a tremendous opportunity — an opportunity to join the Army team and serve my country.”

Scarbo credited a host of people for helping groom his Hall of Fame career.

“You never stop learning and growing,” he said, “from that ‘average student’ that walked the halls in WJHSD to a lifelong journey of military and civilian academics. I believe continuous education and development to be the key to my success shaped by my lifelong teachers and students, peers and colleagues, military cadre and, of course, my family.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported me on this life journey: my mom and dad, sisters, grandparents, uncle and aunts and cousins of the Scharbo/Moore families. I wouldn’t have made it this far in life without them raising me right and their lifelong support. Most importantly, thanks to my wife Amber, who has been by my side for my entire career.”

Scharbo holds a master’s degree from American Military University in national security and strategic studies and is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College.

His military awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service and Army Commendation medals, along with Parachutist, Air Assault, Ranger, Combat Infantryman and Army Staff Identification badges.

“Thinking back to my time at TJ, I remember in elementary school when service members came home from the first Gulf War in 1991,” Scharbo said. “Popular movies leading up to my graduation were Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon and Gladiator, just a to name a few.

“Having no cell phones, no social media, no Chat GPT, Google or Alexa yet, fast forward from the AOL and pre-cell phone days, I now find myself helping the Army transition to a data centric culture in the limitless ‘cloud environment.’”

Scharbo is married to the former Amber Mack of Indianapolis, who has served soldiers, civilians and families over the past decade as a health educator for Army wellness.

Tags: Thomas Jefferson