RIO RANCHO — The latest class of cadets with Rio Rancho Fire & Rescue Academy have run into burning buildings and run with one another wearing their bunker gear as the sun beat down on them. But their graduation from the 20-week program is by no means the end of something, RRFR Chief James Wenzel told them Friday; it is the beginning of everything.
Wenzel, who became fire chief last summer, gave the 16 cadets of Academy 22 that stirring message during their graduation ceremony at the Church of Vision Event Center in Rio Rancho.
“Cadets, as of this moment, you are now firefighters,” Wenzel said. “You’ve earned the right to stand here … because you endured. You endured early mornings, sore muscles (and) doubt — especially the quiet doubt that creeps in when no one else is looking. You did it together; that matters.”…