Virginia State Police Welcomes 58 New Troopers to Serve

Media Release – January 20, 2022

RICHMOND – On Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, the Commonwealth will graduate its 135^th generation of Virginia State Troopers. The 58 new troopers will be presented their diplomas during commencement exercises at 10 a.m. at the State Police Training Academy located at 7700 Midlothian Turnpike in North Chesterfield County. Governor Glenn Youngkin will speak at the graduation ceremony.

“Completing the training here at the Virginia State Police Training Academy is no easy feat, and when you add the challenges COVID has brought, the bar is raised even higher,” said Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “These 58 Trooper-trainees have put their heart and soul into becoming the very best troopers they can be. I am impressed with their resiliency and dedication during the last 27 weeks.”

The new troopers have received more than 1,300 hours of classroom and field instruction in more than 100 different subjects, including de-escalation techniques, strategies to assist people in mental health crisis, ethics and leadership, fair and impartial policing, constitutional law, emergency medical trauma care, and public and community relations. The members of the 135^th Basic Session began their 27 weeks of academic, physical and practical training at the Academy July 6, 2021.

The soon-to-be graduates of the 135^th Basic Session are from every corner of the Commonwealth, as well as Ohio, Oklahoma, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Vermont and the countries of Germany and Mongolia.

Upon graduation, the new troopers will report to their individual duty assignments across Virginia the week of Jan. 31. 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.

Media are welcome to attend.

135th BASIC GRADUATING CLASS

Name	Hometown	Assignment
Alijia Danielle Monet Annon	Henrico	Henrico
Justin Aaron Armes	Stuart	Henrico
Zachary Cole Bailey	Ewing	Fluvanna
Stone Lee Baker	Boykins	Surry
Kennedy Jerome Barbour, Jr.	Williamsburg	James City
Jonathan Y. Bazil	Lynchburg	Charles City
Lucas Jeffrey Beall	Accomack	Accomack
William Brady Blankenship	Powhatan	Culpeper
Johnathon Daniel Blitz	Richmond	Henrico
Michelle Lynn Carney	Roanoke	Culpeper
Christopher John Caudill	Old Bridge	Prince William
Mark Wade Chamberlain	Mount Airy	Hanover / Henrico
Jeffrey Michael Dense	Alpine, New York	Fairfax
Austin Lee Edwards	Pounding Mill	Henrico
Robert Lane Faulkenberry	Lane, Oklahoma	Dinwiddie
Dimitrice John Finley	Chesapeake	Springfield
Justin Carl Grable	Louisa	Clarke
Nathanael Scott Hall	Forest	Dinwiddie
Sarah Francis Halperin	Hardwick, Vermont	Norfolk / Virginia Beach
Jonathan Wesley Hawk	Emporia	Sussex
Nicholas H. Henderson	Cape May, New Jersey	Prince William
Logan Allan Hinnant	Fredericksburg	Prince William
Nicole Noelle Hobbs	Hiltons	Frederick
Emma Clare Hodge	Powhatan	Norfolk / Virginia Beach
Alex Jamal Holley	Newport News	Springfield
Matthew Samuel Honey	Fairfax	Springfield
Luke J. Horvath	Schenectady, New York	Campbell
Logan James Houston	Quinton	Mathews
Steven Rex Huffman	Louisa	Hanover / Henrico
Brian D. Hurlimann	Rochester, New York	Stafford
Kenneth Ray Jamison	Danville	Bedford
Scott Andrew Jeltema	Bitburg, Germany	Springfield
Jeffrey Scott Keeney	Virginia Beach	Norfolk / Virginia Beach
Corey James Klak	Chesapeake	Norfolk / Virginia Beach
Alexis Mykayla Kovach	Chesterfield	Henrico
Sean Michael Laychak	Springfield	Prince William
Kortney M. Leazer	Remington	Bedford
Joo No Lee	Plainview, New York	Springfield
Griffin Downey Martin	Bracey	Cumberland
Kortney Evan Terrell McGhee	New York, New York	Highland
Michael Ryan Middleton	Ashburn	Fairfax
Chance Allen Morris	Powhatan	Springfield
Robert Dale Morris	La Crosse	Henrico
Samuel Patrick Norris	Pulaski	Roanoke
Alex Hoon Pak	Fairfax	Fairfax
James Robert Davis Pettry	Big Stone Gap	Bedford
Andrew Schuyler Poff	Shawsville	Botetourt
Justin Alexander Ratowski	Hunlock Creek, Pennsylvania	Prince William
Joshua Tyler Stahl	Toronto, Ohio	Hanover / Henrico
Malik Rashad Staton	Clinton, Maryland	Prince William
George Pendleton Stephenson, Jr.	Seaford	Hanover / Henrico
Eli Steven Thies	Harrisonburg	Henrico
Gungaajargal Turek	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia	James City
Daniel Ryan Urban	Yorktown	Cumberland
Eric Grant Vitatoe	Haysi	Gloucester
Alexander B. Wallace	Staunton	Orange
Matthew Dennis Weinholtz	Buffalo, New York	Fairfax
Daniel Andrew Wood	Powhatan	Hanover / Henrico