Mat-Su Valley Welcomes Trooper-recruits

Alaska will welcome 11 new State and three Wildlife Trooper-recruits over the next few weeks. The recruits will receive an additional two weeks of specialized training in wilderness survival, wildlife and fisheries investigations, and other elements of law enforcement unique to the Alaska State Troopers. When that training is complete, they will be deployed to Fairbanks, Soldotna, or the Mat-Su Valley with training officers. 

Once the training and probationary period are completed, the recruits will be promoted to the rank of Trooper. That process usually takes about one year from completion of the initial training. Alaska Department of Public Safety Communications Director Austin McDaniel says the Mat-Su Valley is a training post so new Trooper-recruits and Troopers will spend two to five years at the post. 

Troopers are then moved to a more remote post. McDaniel says Troopers are only required to make one move in their career, but as positions open, they are able to transfer more often if they choose.

Troopers must meet specific Alaska police standards training to serve. Candidates attend a paid academy in Sitka for 17 weeks plus additional specialized training beyond that. 

McDaniel says there are 14 Trooper openings in the Mat-Su Valley. The next academy begins in July. He says the average Trooper makes $115,000 in their first full year of appointment. There is no experience or specific degree required to apply, though there is a screening process.