Grimes, who attended the 10-week session from Jan. 8-March 16, joins UD Police Chief James Flatley, director of public safety, and William Katorkas, assistant director of Public Safety, as academy alumni.
“The academy is very hard to get into, so when an opportunity to participate comes along, you want to take it,” Grimes said. “I had expressed an interest, and Chief Flatley selected me to go.”
Getting to the FBI National Academy, which is situated on 385 wooded acres on a U.S. Marine Corps base, was nearly as difficult as getting into the training program, Grimes said.
“You have to pass through two armed checkpoints,” Grimes said.
Trainees live in a dorm on the base, and attend University of Virginia accredited graduate and undergraduate courses that included classes on interpersonal communications for law enforcement executives, executive leadership, stress management, counter-terrorism and labor law.
Grimes said the group of about 263 participants who finished the training was divided into five sections, somewhat on the order of a platoon.
“Many of the instructors who volunteered to teach these classes were FBI agents and experts in their respective areas,” Grimes said. “Other instructors were faculty members from the University of Virginia.”
Guests speakers included John Miller, former host of the ABC News show 20-20, and the last known Westerner to have interviewed Osama Bin Laden. Other lecturers included Bobby Smith, a police officer shot and blinded in the line of duty, and Michael Durrant, the subject of the book Black Hawk Down.
“Bobby [Jones] currently works as a counselor. He talked about the importance of support systems and about family and coworkers,” Grimes said. “Michael [Durrant] talked about his experience in Somalia, and how it ties in with leadership and service to the community.”
There also was a physical component to the program, which included two hours of PT (physical training) for two days a week, and an addition hour of physical training on a third day, culminating in a fourth day that included a weekly fitness challenge that included the entire academy, Grimes said.
“We would start training in the gym under the direction of an FBI instructor,” Grimes said. “We went through a variety of exercises that featured core-strength training with weights, medicine balls and tossing around 25-pound sandbags.”
Academy physical training also included a series of two-mile plus runs, culminating in a 5.2-mile run at the end of the 10-week session.
“At the end of the last week we completed the Marine base obstacle course,” Grimes said. “This included climbing over a high wooden wall, using ropes and jumping through windows. We were bused out to the obstacle course, but we ran all the way back to the academy after finishing the course.”
The obstacle course and run was capped off with a special dinner, and each participant was given a yellow brick to symbolize completion of the obstacle course trail marked by yellow rocks and markers.
“The obstacle course was fun,” Grimes said. “We did it as a group, and people would help each other get over the obstacles.”
The spirit of cooperation also was evidenced during “International Night,” when classmates dressed up in their local police uniforms and shared how policing is different in different parts of the world, Grimes said.
“You learn about cultural differences,” Grimes said. “You meet people from other countries and learn how they deal with things like terrorism.”
To complement their training, participants were encouraged to meet people, network, exchange business cards and continue the spirit of camaraderie after completing the training program by actively participating in the National Academy Associates alumni organization, Grimes said.
“The staff encouraged us to get to know other people and keep up communication with them. This communication could include things like learning how one particular police force might have faced and dealt with a type of crime that may be occurring in your area,” Grimes said. “You can draw on the experience of others. This is a valuable resource.”
Grimes said the academy was a great way for police officers to enhance professional and personal development and learn about things that the average police officer might not experience on a firsthand basis. The academy also brought home the importance of camaraderie within individual police departments and the law enforcement community, Grimes said.
“The academy stressed that being a police officer is more than just doing a job. It's also about the bonding of police officers, and the way they respond to a call for assistance with the assurance that other officers are on the way to help them,” Grimes said. “The academy teaches you the importance of having a support system, and why it was important that we should call home and thank our families for allowing us to take the time to do this kind of training.”
Grimes said the participants each received a diploma, FBI National Training Academy baseball cap and a plaque bearing the participants name and session dates, as well as a membership card that is recognized in most countries around the world.
“There is a great sense of accomplishment in having done this,” Grimes said. “It was a great honor and privilege to have been part of this group.”
Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson