The refreshing experience was mine. Not the cadets'. I can't imagine that 5 a.m. wake-up calls and non-stop drills for six months is anything close to refreshing.
I recently spent the better part of a day at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey. It's set up like a military boot camp. 27 weeks of rigorous physical and mental challenges, designed to weed out those who aren't fit to serve as one of Pennsylvania's finest.
What was refreshing were the attitudes of the two cadets I met.
One is from Hazelton. His name is John. He's wanted to be a state trooper since grade school. John joined the military to try and increase his chances of being accepted at the academy. He spoke of how strange it has been for him to come back from Iraq, where as a military policeman he was in charge of a troop of 30 soldiers, and go to a place where he's back at the bottom of the barrel. And when John spoke about wanting to serve his fellow man and to help out in any way possible, I believed him.
The other cadet is a Pittsburgh native. Her name is Charlene. She is one of only 11 female cadets in her class of 115. Charlene has come to the state police after being let go by US Airways, a company she worked for for five years until they downsized at Pittsburgh International Airport.
It is fascinating to learn about the different life paths that lead people to police work at its highest level. And it is refreshing to know that these two, along with no doubt dozens more of their classmates, aren't joining up just so they can pull me over and give me a ticket. It's not about an ego trip for them. It's about service and doing something honorable.
The following is the Cadet's Call of Honor, something they have to memorize and recite upon request while at the academy, and I think it tells the whole story:
I am a Pennsylvania State Trooper, a soldier of the law.
To me is entrusted the honor of the force.
I must serve honestly, faithfully, and if need be, lay down my life as others have done before me, rather than swerve from the path of duty.
It is my duty to obey the law and to enforce it without any consideration of class, color, creed or condition.
It is also my duty to be of service to anyone who may be in danger or distress, and at all times so conduct myself that the honor of the force may be upheld.
