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Recently the state police, Pennsylvania Game Commission and other police departments are having problems recruiting men and women to become officers. Due to this, the Pennsylvania State Police have lowered their requirements to become officers. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has also lowered their requirements for filling their ranks.
The game commission has announced the application window for the 37th Cadet Training Class will be open until March 7. Successful cadets will report for training in March, 2025 and graduate in February, 2026.
A cadet application no longer requires 60 college credits, however an applicant must have a high school diploma or GED. Also, an applicant must have completed his or her Hunter-Trapper Education Class by March 7. The commission announced that they have now streamlined the process for those who want to serve the Commonwealth as game wardens and would like to see more individuals take advantage of this opportunity.
If applicants are willing to work hard to protect our wildlife resources, and possess the qualities we value, college credits will not stand between them and a rewarding career with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. To begin a rewarding career where no two days on the job will ever be the same, apply today.
Back in 1968 when I applied for the commission's training school, there were approximately 1,500 applicants and only 25 would be selected.
To get into the training school at that time was very competitive; however, the commission is now having problems getting enough applicants to fill the training classes, which last almost 11 months. When I heard about the lack of interest I began to think about the recruitment for early officers when the commission was formed. After the new game protectors were given a law book and badge, they were sent out to enforce the new game laws, with no formal training.
In 1906 -- the first year that the commission had paid game protectors -- there were 14 shot at, with seven badly wounded and four killed. To say that these new officers were unpopular would be an understatement.
However, by the 1920s, wildlife was on the increase, and the commission had won over most of the hunting public. They now faced new challenges and to meet these challenges, trained officers were needed.
In 1929, the entire field force met at Mt. Gretna National Guard grounds, where they were given one week of intense training. The men slept in tents during this week. While at the training, these game protectors were issued their first official uniforms.
In 1930, the commission purchased a tract of land known as the Marshall tract, near Brockway, that held several buildings, including a hunting lodge. The commission held regular in-service training classes at this hunting lodge from 1932 through 1935.
These new training sessions proved to be quite successful, and in 1936, the commission announced testing for the first class of officers to go through nine months of intense training. They received over 2,000 applications, from which 35 men -- five from each of the seven divisions -- were selected to attend the new school.
At the school, the men had courses in English, geography and history of Pennsylvania, government, public speaking, tree identification and the dreaded typewriting class.
There was also a requirement for the students to box everyone in the class. They were given military and shotgun training. Days were spent in the woods, cutting firewood for the large fireplace, which served as the central heating system for the school.
They worked on the nearby game refuge, using axes, scythes and brush hooks, to keep a 25 mile and 10-foot-wide swath clear around the refuge. Just to sharpen their scythes, the men sometimes got up at 4:30 a.m. All of this for $2 a day.
Many of the old-time game wardens and refuge keepers thought these new trainees were pampered and called them the fair-haired boys. So, when these new officers were assigned to them for a field assignment, they would work them long hours and give them poor sleeping quarters. One young officer told of sleeping in a car for three nights.
The old-time officers felt that these men were being trained to be their replacements; however, the new officers did such an exceptional job that they were eventually accepted by the older officers. They set the standard for wildlife officers and their Esprit de corps still lingers on even into the classes that are now in training.
The men from that first class left some mighty big footprints for future officers to follow.