I owe a great debt of gratitude to my NA Coordinator SA David Street. Without Dave accepting my nomination and pushing it forward I would not have gotten into the NA. That's how I feel but some say other factors are considered that helped me. They are one, the applicants position? and two, has anyone from the agency ever attended? No one ever went from my agency. I found position can matter from meeting my fellow classmates. It can especially matter if they are moving up or near the top, this was all of my class. All this is because a big part of the NA for the FBI is about relationships. So number two factored in for me too. The FBI wants to have relationships with law enforcement agencies current and future leaders all over the world. They tell us this in the first day of orientation at the academy. How else could they get the cooperation and support they do all over the world? It is the NA that does it, that simple. No matter where they go they can most likely find an NA graduate who is in a command position or the head of that agency. We are all a brotherhood. We help our brothers fight the evil that is out there every day, a force multiplier. This is taught at the NA too.
My nomination/application package was processed in 2013. I received a date to go to orientation at the
FBI Tampa Field Office . Agent Street called or sent me an email with the date along with the other five selectees from the Tampa Office. Florida has three filed offices and each field office generally gets four slots in Florida. We had five because Agent Street agreed to go to the NA with us as an NA Counselor. An NA Counselor is an agent assigned from a field office to work with each one of the six sections that the 225 attendees are divided into. Each section gets a counselor, they live, eat, and sleep with you. They help you with any issues that come up. Dave's room was right next to mine so I saw him a lot but he was not my sections counselor.
The five of us showed up at the Tampa office and met Agent Street and his civilian assistant Lourdes Hall. To this day I still keep in contact with two of the five, one never went due to other issues. We became great friends. Dave and Lourdes gave us an excellent orientation on what the NA was all about, its structure, mission, and what to expect, etc. Importantly we were briefed about selecting our classes and the start date of our session, when to be there. The classes themselves would be available online to select in two months and we needed to get on there first because they go fast (more on that later). We did a one on one interview with Dave where security and background questions were asked. Then another agent would contact us for a local background investigation including references and your job, they talk to everyone. Lourdes took us for finger prints as part of the background. I remember being in the place where all the suspects were printed at the FBI. It was a strange feeling getting printed there, knowing some bad folks had probably been there before. They have a really nice facility with all the latest and greatest accommodations and equipment. This made me feel good and told me the NA and the whole FBI Academy itself was going to be the same or better. It turned out to be true.
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| Tampa FBI Field Office - The Nicest Police Building I Have Ever Been Inside By Far |
The whole day was very full and we received a lot of information and a great orientation. Next we were told that the SAC would sign off after a successful background and then our packages went to the NA itself at the FBI Academy for final review and approval, so it was not over. Later that month we were told to return for a PT test, they take PT seriously. The five of us met Dave and a FBI SWAT Agent at the University of Tampa Track and performed a PT test. The hardest part was the run for most. We had 11 minutes for a mile or you could be out. I did mine in 7:47. They wanted us showing up to the academy in shape, fifty years old and in shape, they were serious. Everyone passed and next a local agent did my background, even talked to everyone including two references I had to give from past NA graduates, I passed. The NA signed off at Quantico and I was notified that I was officially in. I was excited and next you start planning your classes. I'll talk about that next. It is a giant part of the experience.
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| This is the group of Law Enforcement Professionals from the different Florida FBI Field Offices that was selected to attend NA257. We are in week 8 having a Florida dinner together off base. What a great group of folks! |