Land

Missouri Military Academy (MMA) has named Dr. Dale Land as the new assistant academic dean. Dr. Land brings extensive experience in administrative leadership and education to support scholarship and academic excellence within the Academy’s military education model.

He joined the Academy in late July.

“I was searching for the next chapter in my life as far as an educational leader and administrator,” Land said. “I stumbled upon MMA and didn’t know there was a military academy in this area. So, I started doing research of MMA – their vision, purposes and values, what the school accomplishes with the students and its track record – and I became a believer and I wanted to be a part of it.”

As MMA assistant academic dean, Dr. Land supports the academic dean in leadership of the Academy’s middle school and high school faculty to help teachers actively engage cadets in the classroom and develop and implement curriculum in creative, effective and efficient ways to best meet cadets ’needs.

Dr. Land earned a Doctor of Education in administrative leadership from Carson-Newman University, an Education Specialist degree in administrative leadership from Carson-Newman University, a Master of Arts in teaching with honors from Austin Peay State University and a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice with a minor in business from Troy University.

Land’s father lives in Fulton so his search for a new job included this area.

“I wanted to broaden my horizons and MMA popped up one day,” Land said. “Frankly, I was so sold on MMA after evaluating, that I moved up my timeline. My family and I were not planning to leave where we were at for 3-5 years. It was continued where we are at, move into principalship or move into administrative leadership before moving closer to family.

“The research guy in me started pinging for jobs in the area.”
He served as a classroom teacher, textbook  evaluator, curriculum developer, academic coach and administrator in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School systems in Clarksville, Tennessee, from 2012 through the 2022 school year.

Dr. Land served in the U.S. Army for more than 20 years, before retiring in 2008. He attended one station unit training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, where he graduated as an infantryman. Over his 20-year career, he served as team leader, squad leader, platoon sergeant, drill sergeant and first sergeant, with his final assignment as the senior military instructor and battalion sergeant major for the University of Central Missouri’s ROTC program.

His service locations included Fort Ord, California; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He deployed to Kosovo and Egypt as part of a peace keeping force, with combat tours in Panama (Operation Just Cause) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom).

“Many of (MMA’s) teachers do not have a military background. You don’t need one to be a successful educator,” Land said. “For me, having a military background and understanding almost innately about the importance of MMA’s focus on character building. That was really the connection for me.

“In some ways, this is full circle for me because I understand that it matters that their uniform is correct, their bed is made properly each morning. If you aren’t familiar with that environment, it becomes part of the learning curve for our new teachers.”

Dr. Land is a 1994 graduate of the Army’s Ranger school, a member of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club from the 101st Airborne Division, a distinguished member of the 502nd Infantry Regiment and a nominee for Austin Peay State University’s Military Hall of Fame (2022). His military awards and decoration include the Air Assault Badge, Parachutist Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Combat Infantryman’s Badge (second award), Drill Sergeant Badge, Ranger Tab, Meritorious Unit Citation (502nd Infantry), Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (two oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (five oak leaf clusters), and Army Achievement Medal (nine oak leaf clusters).

“Some of my strengths stem from my military background,” Land said. “You don’t reinvent the wheel. I am good at looking at the wheel and say, ‘There are some things we are doing very well and here are some things we can grow and work on,’ And help people to reimagine how we get there.

“My focus is on realizing that we are in a really great place, but we have to continue to have a growth mindset because the world around us is changing.”
He and his wife, Teresa, have been married for more than 30 years and have raised three children.

“My wife seeing the enthusiasm I had for what MMA was doing here, we moved our 3–5-year plan to a 3–5-week plan,” Land said. “I believe that much in what MMA is doing. I believe this is a unique and special opportunity.
“This is one position I felt was worth investigating and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring.”

- Alan Dale contributed to this story