The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) is the starting point for our nation's counter-terrorism and national defense. FLETC is tasked with training all federal officers and agents within the Department of Homeland Security, as well as a multitude of other federal, tribal, state, local, and international agencies. The mission of FLETC is to train those who protect our homeland, and they do so by providing fast, flexible, and focused training to secure and protect America. Throughout this paper, I will analyze and discuss FLETC's history, organization and structure, and various roles and programs it utilizes in order to efficiently to train our nations agents and officers in accordance with the mission of the Department of Homeland Security. .
History.
In the late 1960's, studies revealed to congress that the nation was desperately in need of high quality, cost effective, and centralized training by trained professionals using modernized training facilities. Prior to the formation of FLETC, the quality of training varied from agency to agency, and the facilities and practices being used were out of date and overlapping in effort. The concept of centralizing and standardizing training amongst all agencies had never been considered, but Congress knew it was time for a change. After reviewing the studies released in the late 1960's, FLETC was established on July 1, 1970, under Treasury Order 217 as a bureau within the Department of The Treasury. Originally FLETC was located in Washington D.C, however facing a three-year construction delay along with reviewing already existing facilities, Congress decided survey surplus Federal installments that could replace Washington D.C as the permanent location. After years of research, Congress decided on the Glynco Naval Air Station located near Brunswick, Ga. This location provided FLETC with over 1,600 acres of space, equipped with modern classrooms, firing ranges, dormitories, food halls, driver training courses, simulation "neighborhoods", specialized training buildings, and numerous other facilities.
