Editing Hero Training Institute

{{InfoBoxAcademicInstitute
| name = Hero Training Institute
| image = Hero Training Institute logo.png
| imagewidth = 150px
| caption = Hero Training Institute Logo
| type = Academy
| Previous Names =
| Location = [[Maxwell]]<br/>[[Payvand]]<br/>[[Cap Rouge]]<br/>[[Sorunda]]<br/>[[Sterling]]<br/>[[Trinidad]]
| Founded = 2989
| MilCourse01 = [[BattleMech]]
| MilCourse01Dates = 
| MilCourse02 = [[Aerospace fighter|Aerospace]]
| MilCourse02Dates = 
| MilCourse03 = [[Battle armor]]
| MilCourse03Dates =
| MilCourse04 = [[DropShip]] Pilot
| MilCourse04Dates =
| MilCourse05 = Special Operations
| MilCourse05Dates =
}}

The '''Hero Training Institute''' is a group of privately run military academies located within the borders of the [[Free Worlds League]].<ref name=HMTFWL-113>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 113: "Military Forces - Major Military Academies - 4. Hero Training Institute"</ref>

{{quote|''Think you can pilot a 'Mech? So do we!''|Hero Training Institute advertising slogan.<ref name=HMTFWL-113/>}}

==History==
Founded in [[2989]] on the planet [[Maxwell]] by black sheep entrepreneur [[Roncelli Morrall|Roncelli "Ronco" Morrall]], the Hero Training Institute offers those with no legitimate reason to become a [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] the chance to become such a hero. Notorious both for it exorbitant admission fees and its saturation advertising campaign which has seen its slogan blasted across every element of League popular culture from [[holovid]] to matchbook covers, while the quality of the training is exceedingly poor compared to say [[Allison MechWarrior Institute]] with only a few dozen hours of actual hands-on experience, HTI offers a real opportunity to those who would otherwise lack the political connections or economic clout to secure a place in one of the League's most esteemed military academies. Graduates of HTI generally have enough knowledge to be able to secure a place in a [[mercenary unit]] or a noncom position in a [[Free Worlds League Military]] federal of provincial unit. For this reason HTI's tuition rates and waiting lists grew year after year.<ref name=HMTFWL-113/>

As of [[3025]] the Hero Training Institute boasted three rundown campuses which collectively housed over 1,400 students per year, with no more than a few functional [[BattleMech]]s between them and a faculty made up of various [[Dispossessed]] and drugged-out [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]]s along with the occasional charlatan. Though Morrall and his staff leave no stone unturned in their efforts to reduce overheads to enhance the corporation's profit, Morrall's insistence on offering some degree of actual military training is a direct counterpoint to the many fly-by-night MechWarrior academies that exist throughout the [[Inner Sphere]] and has ensured the authorities cannot shut down the Hero Training Institutes as a scam.<ref name=HMTFWL-113/>

===Decline under Captain-General Thomas Marik===
Prospering during the endless warfare of the [[Succession Wars era]], the fortunes of the Hero Training Institute suffered following the ascension of [[Thomas Halas|Thomas Marik]] to the position of [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]]. Reforming many aspects of the Free Worlds League Military's training apparatus, Thomas and the [[League Central Coordination and Command]] set up the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) to create a baseline curriculum to ensure minimum training standards for the FWLM, standards and requirements that pointedly excluded HTI. Almost entirely cutting off the possibility of joining the League's federal or even provincial forces resulting in the reduction down to just two campuses, the Hero Training Institutes [[Clan Invasion era]] graduates almost always became mercenaries, the allure of which remained strong despite Thomas' encouragement of neo-chivalric ideals. Run by [[Kenneth Morrall]] as of [[3067]], despite the disdain for the HTI's high fees and poor quality equipment held by League government, Morrall's adherence to HTI offering genuine (if limited) military training has staved off any attempt by the authorities to shut them down.<ref name=HBHM-113>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 113: "Society and Culture - Education - Hero Training Institutes</ref>

===Jihad Revival===
The massive upswing in conflict and large scale destruction of existing military infrastructure during the [[Word of Blake]] [[Jihad]] proved a boon to the Hero Training Institutes. As the Free Worlds League fragmented into separate provinces, where the various provincial academies became increasingly restrictive in enrollments to ensure loyalty to their realm, the privately run HTI's "no questions asked" policy meant any who could afford their outlandish fees were accepted. For this reason independent and non-aligned systems desperate to enhance their planetary militias and unable or unwilling to set up their own schools sent a constant stream of recruits to the Hero Training Institute as the academy expanded from two to six campuses by [[3079]], often taking advantage of "group discounts" HTI offered to woo them. Even with its trademark high fees, plans to open an additional three campuses foundered due to massive debt incurred by HTI's opening of the other four new Institutes, with expenses ranging from construction costs to bribes to officials to repeal or enact certain laws that facilitated their growth. [[Republic of the Sphere]] intelligence assets believed this pause would likely only last a few years due to ever increasing demand for military training in the region.<ref name=FRFMWLM-5>''Field Report: FWLM", p. 5: "Logistical Status - Academies and Command Centers"</ref><ref name=OFWL-3>''Objectives: Free Worlds League'', p. 3: "League Overview - Strategic Integrity"</ref><ref name=OFWL-37>''Objectives: Free Worlds League'', p. 37: "Upcoming Projects - Non-Aligned and Corporations"</ref>

=== Dark Ages ===
The Hero Training Institutes has made great improvements in both curriculum and equipment, coming a long way from advertising on matchbook covers for potential students. Still privately owned and run, the Institute has come under new management in an effort to cultivate a better reputation among training academies. Graduates of HTI who have made their way to the current conflicts have not been forthcoming about their educational background, raising both eyebrows and suspicion among their peers.<ref name="MWDADPCp295">''MechWarrior: Dark Age - Dossiers and Pilot Cards'', p. 295: "a"</ref>

Despite its seedy past, the Hero Training Institutes continues to draw students looking for a life of combat. After they are graduated, many students seek combat experience wherever they can find it. Though most HTI graduates go on to seek gainful employment in the ranks of mercenary units, some take their education back to their home space to enroll in other, more reputable schools for proper military and officer training.<ref name=MWDA_Uniquesp339>''MechWarrior Dark Ages Uniques'', p. 339: "Hero Training Institute"</ref>

By [[Gray Monday]], the various Hero Training Institutes were largely located on worlds that had joined the [[Rim Commonality]] which unsuccessfully attempted to combat the incessant corruption practiced by HTI. Many of those unsatisfied with the low-quality HTI's instruction either dropped out to matriculate to a rudimentary militia training center, joined a mercenary unit or bandit group. Following the re-forming of the Free Worlds League, the Hero Training Institutes were forcibly included as an official Free Worlds League Military academy, with the LCCC making plans to replace the school's leadership and a good portion of the faculty with retired FWLM officers, though by [[3145]] little headway had yet been made in this.<ref name=FM3145>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 100: "The Free Worlds League and Non-Affiliates - State of Free Worlds Readiness - The Next Generation"</ref>

==Hero Training Institute Campuses==
===Maxwell===
The corporate headquarters of the Hero Training Institute corporation and oldest of its universities, the Maxwell facility is located outside the city of Romanici on the planet's Kenjac continent. By the conclusion of the Jihad, the Maxwell campus had expanded from BattleMech and aerospace fighter training to encompass all advanced military training including officer, [[battle armor]] and [[DropShip]] piloting. The equipment was also upgraded to near modern levels, with HTI Maxwell well on the way to becoming a respectable university, with outside observers noting this was perhaps an attempt to head off the recently founded [[Jeremy Brett Memorial University]] as well as likely merger of the [[Tamarind District|Tamarind]] and [[Abbey District]]s.<ref name=OFWL-32>''Objectives: Free Worlds League'', p. 32: "Non-Aligned - Strategic Systems - Maxwell - Payvand - Sorunda"</ref>

===Payvand===
The second oldest Hero Training Institute, the [[Payvand]] campus was located at Pejman on the planet's Gooya continent. Despite the funds lavished upon the Maxwell campus, by 3079 the increasingly decrepit Payvand was the poster child for the HTI of old, featuring the same old simulators it had installed as far back as the 3040s.<ref name=OFWL-32/>

===Cap Rouge===
One of the Jihad era HTI, the [[Cap Rouge]], was located on the continent of Sillery and offered training on BattleMechs and aerospace fighters.<ref name=OFWL-31>''Objectives: Free Worlds League'', p. 31: "Non-Aligned - Strategic Systems - Cap Rouge"</ref>

===Sorunda===
One of the Jihad era HTI, the [[Sorunda]] facility is baffling choice of location given the planet's majority pacifist Buddhist population. As the League fractured, Sorunda's population feared being left undefended and eventually agreed to allow HTI to build an academy on its world, but did force the corporation to build the campus in the Modesty Grasslands on the continent of Serenity, far from any of planet's population centers to avoid disturbing the general populace. The Sorunda campus offered BattleMech and aerospace fighter training.<ref name=OFWL-32/>

===Sterling===
One of the Jihad era HTI, the [[Sterling]], was located outside the city of Starlight on the continent of Graham, offering training on BattleMechs and aerospace fighters.<ref name=OFWL-33>''Objectives: Free Worlds League'', p. 33: "Non-Aligned - Strategic Systems - Sterling - Trinidad"</ref>

===Trinidad===
As of 3079 the [[Trinidad]] campus was both the newest and most unusual. Located in the Arawak Marshlands on Trinidad's Arawak continent, the Trinidad academy was found by a group of native ex-[[SAFE]] veterans looking to start the very first private Special Operations training group in the Inner Sphere. Though not formally listed on the academy's official program list, HTI Trinidad's "logistics studies" course boasts the highest enrollment costs and fees, as well as the best equipment out of all the HTI's. Applicants for this course are heavily screened and can only enroll with prior permission from the dean, with the majority of applicants relying heavily on referrals.<ref name=OFWL-33/>

==Historical Logos==
<gallery>
Image:Hero Training Institute Dark Age.PNG|Logo of the Hero Training Institute in the Dark Age
</gallery>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Report: FWLM]]''
* ''[[Handbook: House Marik]]''
* ''[[House Marik (The Free Worlds League)]]''
* ''[[MechWarrior: Dark Age Collectable Miniatures Game]]''
* ''[[Objectives: Free Worlds League]]''


[[Category: Military Academies|Hero Training Institute]]