[2][3] Massanutten Military Academy, named for the nearby mountain, was established by the Virginia Classis of the Reformed Church in 1899.

[7] Lantz Hall, the second structure on the academy grounds, was begun in 1907 and dedicated in 1909, to accommodate a growing student population.

[11] While the program was not implemented until 1917, early in his tenure Benchoff described the goal of a military program as "to train the boys with a discipline that is valuable and give them that easy and graceful carriage which is an accomplishment in any gentleman's claim to culture"[12] In 1930, after receiving an application and inspecting the existing program, the U.S. War Department formally made the school a JROTC unit "placing it on a par with the highest rated military schools in the country".

[13] The school has a strong academic program with the graduating class of 2017, which consisted of 24 students, earning more than $2,000,000 in scholarships alone.

[15] MMA's Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) is consistently recognized as an Honor Unit with Distinction.

For the 2017 competition, MMA is placed in the top 24 programs in the nation and the #1 team in the 4th Brigade of Cadet Command.