Georgia State Patrol Graduates Second Accelerated Trooper School

For Immediate Release:

December 15, 2023

(PERRY, GA) – The Georgia State Patrol graduated its 116th Trooper School on Friday, December 12, at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry.  After 13 weeks of intense training, 14 new troopers will report to one of the 52 patrol posts throughout the state to complete the field training phase.

Governor Brian P. Kemp was the keynote speaker and issued the Oath of Office.  Additional remarks were given by Colonel Billy Hitchens, Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety (DPS), and Captain Craig Singletary, Director of Training.

This Trooper School is the second accelerated school of the Georgia State Patrol consisting of all former law enforcement officers. Instead of the traditional 20 weeks at the academy, these Troopers spent 13 weeks and will report to their assigned post to complete 12 weeks of field training.  The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) requires that all peace officers receive a minimum of 408 hours of Basic Mandate Training.  At the completion of Trooper School, these newly graduated troopers received over 1,400 hours of training, including driving, defensive tactics, vehicle stops, Spanish, criminal law and criminal procedure, firearms, accident investigation, and various other training.

During remarks to his fellow class members, Trooper Corey Green, Class President, said “I encourage the 116th to always uphold the utmost professionalism and remember that others are always watching. We have big shoes to fill as the troopers that came before us set the standard. Georgia troopers have been enforcing state laws and protecting the public since 1937 and it is now our responsibility to continue what the Troopers before us started.”

Four of the graduates received special honors for top performance in various proficiencies. The honorees were:

Firearms Proficiency – Trooper Marcus Baker

Top Gun – Trooper Matthew Touhy

Driving Proficiency – Trooper Brandon Hannah

Highest Academic Average – Trooper Brittaney Dyer

Trooper Dyer also received a $5,000 scholarship towards a bachelor’s degree from Reinhardt University for having the highest academic average in his class. This scholarship is named after CPL Chadwick LeCroy who was killed in the line of duty on December 27, 2010.

Trooper Rusty Stewart received the third annual Patrick Dupree Leadership Award which is presented to the cadet that showed leadership throughout the entire class, even though he was not the class president. Trooper Cadet Dupree passed away Thursday, September 8, 2022, after performing a training exercise along with other members of the 113th Trooper School at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.

Additionally, the following graduates were recognized for their leadership: Trooper Brandon Hannah, Vice President; Trooper Matthew Touhy, Treasurer; Trooper Marcus Baker, Chaplain; Trooper Alexander Mountain, Sergeant-at-Arms; and Trooper Eric Thomas, Pennant Bearer.

Each new Trooper will report to the following assigned post: