Don's Biography
Donald (Don) Scanga is a Colorado native, born in the mountain town of Salida into a family of first-generation Italian immigrants. As a pre-teenager, his family purchased and moved onto a small farm in Southeast Colorado. In 1969 he dropped out of school and volunteered at 17 to serve in the US Army during the height of the Vietnam War.
He attended Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Bliss, Texas. After completing AIT, he was assigned to an Army Air Defense Artillery unit in Key West, Florida, where he served as a HAWK Missile Fire Control Specialist.
After serving a year with that unit, and with the encouragement and support of one of his Officers, Don reenlisted for another four years, bringing his total commitment to five years. He tested and was accepted to attend a one-year course at the US Army Signal School at Fort Monmouth, in New Jersey, to become an NCR 500 Computer Repairman. His number never came up for Vietnam. After graduation, he received orders for Germany.
Don served three years in the VII Corp as a Specialist 5th Class, equivalent to a sergeant. Due to the uniqueness of his military specialty, he enjoyed the privilege of traveling around Germany in his old VW Beetle, maintaining and repairing NCR computer systems and IBM peripheral equipment while taking in the beauty of that country, its people, and its history. After discharge, he attended Adam State College in Alamosa, Colorado, where he met his first wife, Carol.
While attending college, Don worked as a computer operator in the evening, continuing what would become a 30-year career in the IT industry. During his IT career, he worked for the 1st National Bank of Denver, Baldwin-United, Inc., Time Warner Communications, marchFIRST, and served as a Senior Manager with Price Waterhouse (PW). After returning from a three-year stint in Saudi Arabia with PW, he formed his consulting firm, Allenbrook Associates. Shortly thereafter the Dot Com bubble burst in 2000, Don switched gears, and launched an insurance agency under the Farmers umbrella, which he built for 10 years, then sold, then started a new independent insurance agency which he owned and managed for another ten years.
Don and Carol had one son, Jason, who closely followed in his father's footsteps. Jason recently retired as a Major from the Colorado Army National Guard after a 20-year career. He saw two combat deployments: his first as a Signal Corps officer in Kuwait, and his second as the Support Company Commander with the 19th Special Forces Group in Afghanistan. Like Don, Jason has also worked in the IT industry throughout his professional civilian career and currently supports the US Army directly through his current employer, VM Ware.
On January 1, 2022, after 20 years in the insurance business, Don sold his agency, retired, and began the pursuit of his passions. His first was becoming a Digital Historian which integrates his love of history and the men and women who serve in our military with the technical, interpersonal, and writing skills he acquired over the years.
His second passion is golf. Which he discovered late in life and which has become one of the hardest puzzles he has yet to solve 😊