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FLETA Accredits the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Basic Training Program and Reaccredits the CBP Field Operations Academy

For Immediate Release

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board ispleased to announce it granted accreditation status to the U.S. Customsand Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Basic Training Program(AMB), and reaccreditation status to the CBP Field Operations Academy(FOA), at the July 14, 2011 meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach,Florida. 

 

CBP’s Office of Air and Marine (OAM), the world’s largest aviationand maritime law enforcement organization, protects the American peopleand the Nation’s critical infrastructure through the coordinated use ofintegrated air and marine forces to detect, interdict, and prevent actsof terrorism and the unlawful movement of people, illegal drugs, and other contraband toward or across the borders of the United States.

 

Kevin Strong, Director of the CBP FOA, accepted the certificate ofaccreditation of the AMB, thanking the Board. Ron Reichel, DeputyDirector of Training, Safety, and Standards for the Office of Air andMarine, thanked the Board, the Field Operations Academy, and ChiefStrong. Mr. Reichel said that the accreditation “is a great feather inour cap on the road to future success”.

 

The CBP Field Operations Academy encompasses training elements fromthe previous U.S. Customs Academy, the Immigration Officer Academy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Professional Development Center.Basic and Advanced training are provided by the FOA with the tradeprograms delivered primarily at the Charleston site and theagricultural programs at the Frederick, Maryland site.

 

Kevin Strong, Director of the CBP Field Operations Academy, acceptedthe certificate of reaccreditation of the FOA, thanking the Board andnoting “Reaccreditation is a journey in itself”. He also thanked theBoard for validating the FOA’s business practices as having met theFLETA standards.

 

To achieve accreditation, an agency must undergo a voluntarythorough assessment of their academy and/or program to ensurecompliance with the FLETA standards.  These professional standardswere developed to increase agency effectiveness and efficiency. The standards address Program Administration, Training Staff, TrainingDevelopment, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standardsspecifically for Academies.  Once an academy or program isaccredited, they must undergo reaccreditation every three years usingthe current standards and process.  Reaccreditation takes a freshlook at all information to determine if the evidence supports theagency’s continued compliance with FLETA Standards.  To maintainaccredited status, agencies are required to submit annual reports tothe FLETA Board.       

 

The FLETA Board is nationally recognized by federal law enforcementagencies, as well as stakeholders in law enforcement training.  Itis the Board’s goal to improve the federal law enforcement communitywith each accreditation, and the Board has now awarded 51 programaccreditations and 14 academy accreditations. 

 

If you would like more information regarding the FLETA process,please visit www.FLETA.gov or contact FLETAat 912-261-3684.