MARION, AL: On Friday, Sept. 10, Marion Military Institute (MMI) dedicated its new First Responder Building to thank community and state partners in the college’s latest workforce development endeavor. This facility serves as a training and instructional base for MMI cadets in the firefighting, EMT and law enforcement career tracks.
The afternoon began with a Pass in Review by the MMI Corps of Cadets on the quad, followed by a ribbon-cutting across the street at the First Responder Building, where cadets performed a shooting simulation, EMT and fire rescue demonstrations. Afterwards, cadets, MMI staff and special guests mingled at an outdoor reception.
MMI’s First Responder program began in 2016 with one cadet, Chris Simmons, who became a certified EMT through a partnership with the Alabama Fire College (AFC), commuting three days a week for classes in Tuscaloosa. In 2021, MMI’s First Responder program has transitioned to mostly online instruction and on-campus training with the enthusiastic support and resources of the AFC.
MMI’s Law Enforcement program was added in 2020 with partners Montgomery Police Dept. (MPD) and the Shelby County Sherriff’s Office (SCSO) coming onboard as official partners. Since its first Law Enforcement graduate, Derrikah Gardner, completed the program in Spring 2021, it has attracted more participants. Now counting 32 First Responder cadets enrolled in Fall 2021, these MMI cohorts are growing year by year. The college is especially grateful to official partners AFC, MPD and SCSO for their instructional resources and professional mentorship, which have proven invaluable to the program’s success.
Without adequate funding for facility space, training gear and technology, MMI’s First Responder program would have been at a stalemate. MMI would like to thank the following donors for their grant awards and financial support: Central Alabama Works / Alabama Community College System; Delta Regional Authority/Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission; the MMI Foundation & MMI Alumni Brigade. The college is grateful for their donations of necessary equipment and for the purchase, additions and renovations for the First Responder Building (formerly an Alabama Power office) as well as a newly-constructed red metal building. Combined, those assets represent more than $250,000 of investment to date.
On a local level, MMI appreciates the support of Marion Mayor Dexter Hinton, the Marion Volunteer Fire Dept., Marion Police Dept. and Perry County Sherriff’s Dept.
As C
OL Ed Passmore, USA (Ret)—MMI’s Senior Vice President—relayed to the crowd gathered at the ribbon-cutting: “We saw an opportunity to create more career opportunities for our cadets, opportunities that would capitalize on those same character traits that would attract them to come to a college like ours—a sense of discipline, of service, and the courage to take a path more difficult than the norm. Out of this vision was born MMI’s First Responder Program.”
It takes a team to develop a program of this magnitude, one that would seamlessly align with the MMI mission, and the college is grateful for all of our partners and donors who helped turn this vision into a reality.
