Marion Military Institute


Marion Military Institute, the Military College of Alabama, is a public military junior college in Marion, Alabama. Founded in 1842, it is the official state military college of Alabama and the nation's oldest military junior college.
Marion Military Institute is one of only four Military Junior Colleges in the United States. These programs include the Army's two-year Early Commissioning Program, an Army Reserve Officers Training Corps program through which qualified cadets can earn a commission as a Second Lieutenant after only two years of college. MMI's ECP is one of the country's leading U.S. Army commissioning programs. The Service Academy Program is a freshman year of academic and physical preparation for students who wish to attend one of the Service Academies in the United States. It is designated, endorsed, and selected by all five Service Academies. MMI also offers Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course and the first two years of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. Over the years, MMI has produced more than 200 generals and admirals in the United States Armed Forces.
MMI is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees. It has association memberships in the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States and the Alabama College Conference. The accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation entitles all the services and privileges of regional, national and international professional recognition.
Marion Military Institute is an Alabama Historical Marker. It is the home of two National Register of Historic Places - The MMI Chapel and Lovelace Hall, and the President's House. The Alabama Military Hall of Honor, created by executive order of Gov. George Wallace in 1975, is also on campus.

History

Marion Military Institute traces its origins back to 1842 with the creation of Howard College in Marion, Alabama by the Alabama Baptist Convention. During the American Civil War, South Barracks, built in 1854, and the Chapel, built in 1857, served the Confederacy as Breckenridge Military Hospital from 1863 to 1865. Along with the President's House, these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1887, the decision was made to move Howard College to Birmingham. The then President of Howard College, Colonel :zh:J·T·墨菲|J. T. Murfee, LL.D., and a handful of faculty and students decided to remain in Marion, Alabama and immediately reorganized and founded Marion Military Institute, a military preparatory high school and college. It was modeled after Murfee's alma mater - Virginia Military Institute. Although built as a military college, H. O. Murfee, MMI's second president, believed that Marion was destined to become the "American Eton." Under his leadership, MMI achieved national recognition. President William Howard Taft served as President of the Board of Trustees. Then president of Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson was the guest speaker at the convocation for the class of 1905. However, the plan to pattern the school after Eton College was interrupted by World War I. The military nature of MMI was again emphasized due to the outbreak of the war. In 1916, United States Army ROTC program was first offered at MMI, when the institute was designated as an "Honor Military School with Distinction" by the United States Department of War.
The U.S. Army Early Commissioning Program was established at MMI in 1968. In 1971, MMI became coeducational. In March 2006, the Alabama state legislature passed a resolution placing MMI under the auspices of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education. MMI became "the State Military College of Alabama". As part of the transition to a public institution, Marion phased out its high school program. In May 2009, the last high school class graduated from Marion Military Institute's Preparatory School Program, a program that traced its origins back to 1887.

Cadet structure

The Corps of Cadets is organized into a battalion consisting of the Headquarters staff and six companies including Band, A, B, C, D, and E. A cadet lieutenant colonel command and control of headquarters and five companies of cadets as the battalion commander. Each company has a cadet captain commanding, a cadet first lieutenant executive officer, two cadet second lieutenant platoon leaders, a cadet first sergeant, and two cadet sergeant first class platoon sergeants. Each platoon normally has three to four squads and each squad is led by a cadet staff sergeant. Each squad leader has a team leader serving with the rank of cadet sergeant or corporal, depending on experience and ability.
Class A uniform rank insigniaClass B, C and ACU rank insigniaCadet rankPosition
Lieutenant ColonelBattalion Commander
MajorBattalion XO, S3
Honor Council Chair
CaptainCompany Commanders
Battalion S1, S2, S4, S5
First LieutenantCompany XO
Battalion Chaplain
Organizational Commanders
Second LieutenantPlatoon Leader
HQ Staff Assistant
Command Sergeant MajorBattalion Sergeant Major
First SergeantCompany First Sergeant
Sergeant First ClassPlatoon Sergeant
N/AStaff SergeantSquad Leader
Assistant S5
N/ASergeantTeam Leader
N/ACorporalTeam Leader
N/APrivate First Class
N/APrivate
N/AN/APrivateNew Recruits

Athletics

Marion Military Institute athletics is nicknamed "Tigers". It is a member of Alabama Community College Conference, which is a part of National Junior College Athletic Association Division I. Currently, MMI has varsity teams for baseball, men's basketball, softball, tennis, cross country, and golf. The school colors were originally pink and green when established, but they were changed to orange and black following Woodraw Wilson's appearance at the MMI convocation. Marion adopted the tiger as the mascot in tribute to Princeton University.
After 15 consecutive winning games, MMI men's basketball team made history to capture school's first ACCC Basketball Championships in 2015-2016 season. They also represented Region XXII at the NJCAA Men's National Basketball Championships, but lost to McLennan Community College in the first round. Marion Military Institute men's tennis team showed its dominance in the state of Alabama by holding the NJCAA Region XXII Championship five years in a row from 2011 to 2016. In 2013, the school hired former MLB player Matt Downs as the head coach of the baseball team. In 2016, Christopher Lawrence, former personal trainer of Javier Arenas and Kirani James, became the Marion's cross country coach.
Marion Military Institute also had a football team, which captured the state championship in 1912. On November 28, 1918, MMI earned a 101-0 victory over Howard College Football Team at home. This is MMI Football's largest margin of victory and the second largest margins of defeat in the history of Samford University Football Team. In 1922 season, MMI cadets were defeated 0-110 by the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Alabama in what still stands as the school record for largest margin of victory and as the Crimson Tide's only 100 point game.

List of Presidents

16 individuals have served as the president of Marion Military Institute:
No.PortraitNameTermNotes
1J.T. Murfee1887-1906Former Lieutenant Colonel, CSA
First Captain and standing 1st in VMI Class of 1853
2H.O. Murfee1906-1919
3W.L. Murfee1919-1944
4-J.T. Murfee, II1944-1953
5-Linton H. Baer1953-1954
6-Robert Calhoun Provine1954-1958
7Cato D. Glover1958-1959Admiral, USN
8-Paul B. Robinson1959-1973
9Draper Kauffman1974-1976Rear Admiral, USN
10-Thomas H. Barfield1976-1983Major General, USA
Class of 1935
11-Clyde W. Spence1983-1990Major General, USA
Class of 1946
12-Joseph L. Fant, III1990-1994Major General, USA
Class of 1947
13Wayne T. Adams1994-1998Brigadier General, USMC
Class of 1960
vacancy1998-2000
14Robert F. Foley2000-2004Lieutenant General, USA
Medal of Honor receipiant
15-James H. Benson2004-2009Colonel, USMC
16David J. Mollahan2009–presentColonel, USMC

Notable alumni

Early Commissioning Program