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Two veteran law enforcement officers are in training, preparing to serve as deputies for the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.

Michael Canalin and Kivontae Manuel began academy classes in Jefferson County on Aug. 23. Upon graduation from the Jefferson County Law Enforcement Academy in December, the pair, both military veterans, will begin duties as deputies.

“It’s an academy specifically geared towards sheriff’s offices,” said Patrol Commander Nicholas Cognasi. “It’s a week or two longer than other academies because they train about courthouse security and courtroom procedures as well as jail management and prisoner transfers.”

Canalin comes to the department with 10 years in the U.S. Army where he specialized in military police operations.

“Within the scope of my job I did anything from investigations to swat and basic community policing,” Canalin said. “I come to Lowndes County with a lot of different assets to bring to the agency.

Having been deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and with the efforts of the United Nations, Canalin practiced military police operations in a variety of backgrounds. Close friends and family referred him to the position after his military retirement.

“I followed my family and friends to Lowndes County and had an interview with the department,” Canalin said. “Ever since then, the camaraderie and morale seems really high and [I like] how they take care of their personnel. So, I kind of just climbed on board because it felt like the right choice.”

Manuel comes to the department as an Army National Guardsman. He has family in White Hall and Fort Deposit and accepted the Sheriff’s offer to join the force.

“I’m currently in the National Guard,” Manuel said. “I have a couple of family members in Lowndes County.

“I was experimenting with multiple agencies when the department first contacted me back. I’m looking forward to joining the agency once I complete my training.”

While in the academy, Canalin and Manuel will work through legal exams as well as weapons and physical fitness and agility training. With another 10 weeks of training, the two are scheduled to graduate Dec. 18.

“Once they graduate, they still have their firearms qualification to complete,” Cognasi said. “They have already done some pre qualifications and they shoot well enough that we believe there should be no issues. Their GPAs (grade point averages) are good and we are really excited for them to be doing so well. We are excited to add two very valuable team members to the Sheriff’s office.