Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes addresses Academy 29 cadets during their graduation Friday morning at the LAFD training facility on DP Road. Family members did not attend the graduation ceremony due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, so each graduate will receive a video of the ceremony to share with their loved ones. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com

Chaplain Joe Dudziak delivers the invocation to the Academy 29 graduates during the ceremony Friday morning at the LAFD training facility on DP Road. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com 

LAFD Academy 29 graduates front row from left, Adam Willman, Damacio Page and Rebecca Calvert, center row from left, Brian Thomas, Justin King and Donovan Garcia and back row from left, Britt Parish, Johnny Gonzales, Noah Trujillo and David Bustos. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com

About the Academy:

Days at the Los Alamos Fire Department Academy can be long and difficult. Anyone considering applying to the academy should ask themselves if they have the drive, dedication and physical ability for success.

The Academy is structured in a para-military fashion and will prove to be a very demanding recruit training schedule. Applicants should prepare themselves mentally and physically. Recruits are expected to give 100 percent each day.

As members of the LAFD, recruits will be held to extremely high standards as they progress through the Academy and throughout their career.

A typical day at the Academy starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. with some overnight shifts required.  Recruits are required to participate in rigorous physical activities that include regular exercise and running activities as well as intensive firefighting tactics training.

Recruits also receive a minimum of 1,200 hours of training in various disciplines in an intensive learning environment, which includes written, practical tests and evaluations.

Fire Chief Troy Hughes congratulates Academy 29 member Rebecca Calvert who graduated Summa Cum Laude Friday morning at the ceremony at the training facility on DP Road. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com

LAFD Cadet Adam Willman presents Fire Capt. Michael Cayton with a gift during the graduation ceremony Friday morning at the LAFD training facility on DP Road. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com

LAFD Academy 29 chose the motto‘Magna est vis Consuetudinis’  (great is the power of habit). Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com

LAFD Academy 29 badges. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com