Governor Bill Haslam served as the keynote speaker for the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s graduation ceremony at the Hermitage Hills Baptist Church in Nashville on Friday. Thirty-One trooper cadets earned their badges in the special ceremony. Commissioner Bill Gibbons and THP Colonel Tracy Trott also made remarks at the graduation. Captain Robert Bighem, who oversees the Training Division, served as master of ceremony.
The 31 new state troopers, also known as Cadet Class 716, took their oaths of office after completing 22 weeks of intense physical and classroom training at the THP Training Center.
“The trooper cadets graduating today were selected from more than one thousand applicants, and we are grateful they have chosen a career that puts service before self, joining a group of men and women who dedicate their lives to helping make Tennessee safer,” said Governor Bill Haslam.
“It is an incredible honor to be chosen to serve as a Tennessee State Trooper,” Commissioner Bill Gibbons said.
“These men and women are the best of the best chosen from more 1,000 applicants. Congratulations on this accomplishment, and represent well as one of Tennessee’s finest.”
Trooper Jeremiah Downes was named the top cadet and presented the Calvin Jenks Memorial Award for Excellence for his leadership, work ethic and academics. The award was named in honor of the late Trooper Jenks, who was killed in the line of duty in Jan. 2007. Trooper Downes will serve in Hamblen County in the THP’s Fall Branch District.
“The training to become a Tennessee State Trooper is not easy. It requires significant dedication and perseverance from an individual to complete it. That is why I am proud of the 31 men and women who have completed our training and earned the title of trooper,” Colonel Trott said. “In my eyes it says a lot about a person when they get challenged and then answer that challenge. As an agency we are giving Tennessee 31 new troopers who are dedicated to answering the challenges ahead of them with professionalism and pride.”
As part of their community service, Cadet Class 716, whose motto is “For them, we will not fail,” the class participated in two blood drives with over 60 pints of blood donated, and also donated $1,100 for the American Cancer Society in honor of Lisa House.
The new graduates will now advance to a maximum of 10 weeks of field training.
Here are the new graduates:
Bargatze, Devin - Robertson County
Brackett, Ryan O - Unicoi County
Brewer, Joseph A - Fayette County
Brooks, Christopher B - Robertson County Scales
Bunn, Casey J - Haywood County
Cobble, Jason - Smith County
Collier, Andrew B - Cannon County
Collins, Nicholas S - Sullivan County
Crysel, Katherine - Montgomery County
Dickson, Trae N -Giles County Scales
Downes, Jeremiah - Hamblen County
Dyer, James - Crockett County
Edwards, Jacob B - Lincoln County
Fulkerson, John C - Grundy County
Goode, William S - Cocke County
Halcott, Harvey E - Knox County Scales
Hansel, Jacob P - Jefferson County
Hicks, Jennifer L - Robertson County
Higdon, Corey A - Madison County
Hoyt, Jeremy T - Robertson County Scales
Kennedy, Joshua A - Campbell County
Krasnow, Kristopher L - Montgomery County
Lange, Dallas C - Coffee County Scales
McKilligan, James A - Sevier County
Moore, Willis L - Bradley County
Murray, Maleah-Ruth - Anderson County
Ogle, Keith T - Sevier County
Purcell, Ethan D - Maury County
Saayman, Johnnie - Greene County
Simunic, Andrew J - Rutherford County
Williams, Randall D - Coffee County