MMA turns 50

MMA TURNS 50: MMA will celebrate its 50th anniversary throughout the school year

cadet from MMA class of 1966

Marine Military Academy officially turns 50 years old this year. Since it opened its doors on Sept. 9, 1965, MMA continues to educate young men from across the country and around the world in the way of excellence — or the Marine way.

To this day, MMA is still the only private school in the world based on the traditions and values of the U.S. Marine Corps. The mission of this college-preparatory boarding school is to develop disciplined, morally strong, college-ready young men.

Superintendent Col. R. Glenn Hill, who has worked at MMA since 1996, said, “We’ve put thousands of boys on the path to success over the past 50 years. Our graduates are accepted into U.S. service academies and other top colleges both home and abroad.”

According to Hill, the educational model at MMA strengthens boys in three ways: scholastically, physically and mentally.

“We teach them to excel in all areas of their life. Though academics are the main focus, the cadets also learn discipline, character, leadership and many other skills and qualities that will help them achieve lifelong success,” he said.

The school is led and run by retired Marines. Not surprisingly, it was founded by a Marine.

Capt. William “Bill” Gary of Prescott, Ariz., was a retired Marine Reservist and successful rancher from Prescott, Ariz. In the early 1960s, he wanted to send his son to a school that embraced the ideology of the Marine Corps. Gary believed that the Marine Corps’ concepts of leadership, discipline, and moral values could be successfully applied to a college-preparatory education. Gary could not find such a school, so in 1963 he recruited a group of prominent Marines to start one.

MMA’s home was to be in Prescott until Gary and his supporters learned of a defunct military base in Harlingen, Texas. The former Air Force base was used to train combat navigators during World War II. The Marines were able to envision this military base as a school campus. Gary and his team then began structuring the educational laboratory that would develop today’s young men into tomorrow’s leaders.

MMA Main Gate

When MMA opened in 1965, it had 58 cadets from various states. Six of them would graduate that year and comprise the school’s first class, the Class of 1966. Today MMA has approximately 260 cadets from all corners of the globe, with an average graduating class of 60.

Though MMA’s facilities have changed over the years and the demographics have shifted to a more global population, the cadets of today still look like the ones of yesterday. The cadets of MMA still keep their hair closely cropped and their faces well-shaven. They still wear the uniforms of the U.S. Marine Corps each day. They also still maintain perfect Marine stance as they stand, walk and sit.

Now that school is in session, MMA will celebrate its 50th anniversary at every school event held in the 2015-16 school year. MMA normally holds seven parades between September and May, but this year it will told 10 events.

The public is not only invited but encouraged to attend the following events:
● Introductory Training Parade & Graduation: Sept. 12 at 10 a.m.
● 50th Anniversary Parade: Oct. 30 at 4 p.m.
● Corporal Harlon Block Day: Nov. 6 at 4 p.m.
● Veterans Day Parade: Nov. 11 at 4 p.m.
● Chosin Few Memorial Ceremony: Dec. 12 at 10 a.m.
● Introductory Training Parade & Graduation: Feb. 6 at 10 a.m.
● Iwo Jima Parade: Feb. 19 at 4 p.m.
● Alumni Reunion Parade: April 1 at 4 p.m.
● Vietnam War Parade: March 5 at 10 a.m.
● Class of 2016 Graduation Parade: May 21 at 9 a.m.