RICHMOND – The 37 members of the 131st Basic Session officially graduated Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in advance of their originally scheduled graduation date of Friday, March 20, 2020. In accordance with Governor Ralph Northam’s directives related to COVID-19, traditional commencement exercises were canceled for Friday for the 36 new Troopers and one new Special Agent Accountant.
“This is the first time in decades that state police has had to postpone an Academy graduation ceremony,” said Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “However, this in no way diminishes the Department’s pride in or appreciation of these new Troopers and Special Agent Accountant joining our ranks. We look forward to bringing these men and women and their families to our campus at a later date in order to properly celebrate their accomplishments of completing the Virginia State Police Academy.”
Colonel Settle met with the graduates mid-morning Tuesday for an official Uniform Inspection and to share a few final words with the class. The new Troopers and Special Agent Accountant then filed into the Academy and proceeded up the marble steps – which is an honor only afforded the trainees upon graduation. At the top of the steps, Colonel Settle and the Academy Staff officially congratulated the graduates. Colonel Settle presented each graduate with a Superintendent’s Challenge Coin.
“Since these graduates will not receive their official diploma until their graduation ceremony, each was presented a Challenge Coin,” said Colonel Settle. “They are the only State Police graduates to ever receive a coin from the Superintendent, which I hope they accept as a constant reminder of their oath to serve our Commonwealth with valor and pride, especially during such challenging times.”
The class has received more than 1,300 hours of classroom and field instruction in more than 100 different subjects, including defensive tactics, crime scene investigation, ethics and leadership, survival Spanish, police professionalism, firearms, judicial procedures, officer survival, cultural diversity and crisis management. The members of the 131st Basic Session began their 29 weeks of academic, physical and practical training at the Academy on Aug. 21, 2019.
The graduates of the 131st Basic Session are from every corner of the Commonwealth, as well as Florida, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.
The new Troopers will report to their individual duty assignments across Virginia the week of March 23, 2020. For their final phase of training, each Trooper will spend an additional six weeks paired up with a Field Training Officer learning his or her new patrol area. Special Agent Accountant Mills will report to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Appomattox Field Office to begin his final training phase.
131st BASIC GRADUATING CLASS
131st Basic Graduate
Ian Trent Abernathy
Abdulrahman Mohamed Aboutabl Harrisonburg
Thomas Jefferson Acosta, Jr. Jacksonville, FL
Rafael J. Aguayo
John Joseph Barrera, III Williamsburg
William Hooker Bonnet, IV Forest
Anthony Joseph Bradt, Jr. Bloomingburg, NY Prince William
Shane Douglas Brooks Chilhowie
Jacob Allen Burke
Travis Todd Carr
Adam Van Clampitt
Ridge Tamos Duncan
Johnathan Dale Fish
Timothy Manning Fisher
Sean Edward Glennan
Joshua Bryan Good
Cody Edward Gray
Ricky Ray Hairston
Jordan Holt Hamlett
Joseph Holloman, III
Nathan Allen Jennings
Duane Hunter Knox
Jackson Stuart Peach Lowther Gloucester
Brooke Louise Martin
John Hume Mills*
Paul Steven Perry
Indiana Jacob Raccanello
Jacob William Reaves
Dru Imani Khianti Redden-Robinson Chantilly
Travon Lamont Smith
Derek Emanuel Spencer
Nathan Andrew Stidham
Larry Darnell Tucker, Jr.
Benjamin Perfecto Villa, II
Alexander Frederick West
Shawn Douglas Williams
Holden Seth Young
*Special Agent Accountant
