Wed Dec 6th

The past few days have gone by very quickly. Classes are now in full swing and they are keeping us very busy. Between going to class, having section meetings (they have us split up into 6 different sections), and committee meetings, I sometimes only have a few minutes for lunch.

On Tuesday evening, I had to attend a mandatory movie for my Media class. It wasn't too bad for an assignment. The classes that I am taking here at the FBI academy are:
- Leadership, Ethics, and Decision Making
- Contemporary issues in Police and Media Relations
- Terrorism: Mindset, methodologies, and government response
- Interviewing strategies through statement analysis
- Managing Death Investigations
- Fitness for Law Enforcement

The Terrorism class is a graduate level course, the others are all undergrad. I don't think I've taken that many college courses since my first few semesters as a teen.

I have been working on my homework quite a bit and try to keep up on my reading assignments. On Wednesdays, we don't have class, but they reserve the day for our Challenge Run as well as other meetings and events. Tonight we have an event with a lot of the new FBI agents going through their academy. They will have the opportunity to meet some of the officers from the states where they will be assigned. I found out that the FBI agents going into the academy do not even know where they will be assigned until about the 6th week or the 22 week academy. They leave their family to come out here, not even knowing where they will be at the end.....tough situation.

I mentioned our Challenge Run. Every Wednesday, all 270+ National Academy students gather to run ever increasing distances. Today was only 1.5 miles, but some of the guys were really stressing about it. It really wasn't hard at all. Next week it goes up to 2.something and by the end it will be over 6 miles. I'm not too worried since I went for a 9 mile run just the other day and it wasn't too bad.

The fitness class is challenging and they make us really push ourselves in a variety of ways. I definately have a lot of sore muscles.

On Saturday, I slept in just a little and then ate breakfast in the cafeteria. Then I took off to go see some sights in DC. I went alone because another group left earlier in the morning and also, I just wanted to go as fast as I could to see whatever came along. I parked at the southern most METRO station and rode the subway into DC. While it was probably a lot easier than driving, the Metro still was a long ride.

In DC I went straight toward the Capitol building. I have been to the other end of the Mall, but not I have never been to the Capitol. At first glance, it didnt appear that they were giving tours, but I soon found that the visitor center is hidden underground (really, it is). They then take you underneath and then up into the capitol. The tour was very interesting and it was awesome to see some of the areas inside the Capitol building. I traded patches with some officers out front.

From there, I went to the Library of Congress for a while and then went to the National Air and Space Museum (awesome). I then wandered around looking at some of the other museums, but by then I was getting pretty tired. I made my way through some neighborhoods and grabbed something to eat, then jumped back on the subway to make my way back to my car. There had been some kind of liberal protesting going on on the Mall and there were all kinds of people in their Labor Union shirts walking around and all over the subway. I have to admit that it was actually kind of comical watching them protest. I still don't know what they were protesting though.

On Sunday, I basically just hung out around the academy. I didn't do any other exercises on Saturday since I had walked so far so I went on a 9 mile run on the Marine base. It was neat to go site seeing while I was running. When I got back the cafeteria had closed early (I guess it does on Sundays) so I ate a couple of granola bars and then read school work for most of the day trying to get ahead in some of my classes.

While wandering around, I found a memorial that sits in the middle of the FBI academy for the Sept. 11 victims. I think it is extremely well done. The memorial has a base of the Pentagon with two towers and a map of Pennsylvania and the spot where flight 93 crashed marked. Then at the base, there are actual pieces of flight 93, the Pentagon, and the World Trade Center buildings. I was amazed to find out that the pieces are not even glued down, just set in place. This is definitely a place of trust.

Friday

We officially started classes yesterday so down time is now rare. I am amazed at the work experience of a lot of the guys I am going to classes with. I am attending a Death investigations class with the lead detective for the Detroit Homicide squad, a leadership class with the likes of the Chief of Police of the Boston Police Dept. and many, many more. It is great talking to them about all of their experiences.

Today, I ate dinner with a Capt. from Hilo, Hawaii a Baltimore County Capt. and an officer from Aman, Jordan. What a group of guys!!

The day started off with classes all day. I now have quite a bit of homework as well as tons of textbooks in my room. I made a quick run into Stafford, VA to Staples and bought some milk-crate type shelves to store them on....as well as a small fan because my room needs some ventilation.

After classes I went for a 7 mile run and then 1 mile on the eliptical and did some push ups and ab excersizes. Im going to regret it tomorrow, but I found that I have gone up two pounds since I arrived here (even though I am exercizing every day. I think it is all of the great caffeteria food. I have been eating pretty healthy, but I guess I'll have to cut back a bit. The cafeteria has actually a pretty good selection of food for us as well as frozen yogurt (yes, frozen yogurt). I have attached a few photos of the cafeteria.

Tomorrow I think I will run into DC and just run around on my own a bit to see as many sights as possible. I have talked to a bunch of the officers from DC metro and the Capitol Park Police. They are working on some 'inside' tours for us. On the 17th of October, Im going to run a 5k in DC for the law enforcement memorial. They will be shutting down the roads around the Capitol, library of congress, etc. for the runners. It should be great.

Day 3

Well, looks like I skipped right over day 2. On Monday, we had several administrative meetings to get us started in the academy. There are 270 of us in my session and we are all split up into 6 sections so we met with our sections and 'volunteered' for several different positions. Because we could not get into the classroom building because of the previously mentioned fire, meetings were cut short and we had a lot of down time. I used the time to do a couple of loads of laundry that had accumulated from the road trip and to work out.

The work out facilities here are great. There are several different gyms, all with weights, cardio, etc. and even a pool. All are always open. I ended up just socializing with some of the guys and getting to know some of them. It is unbelievable what some of them do. We have a counter terrorism chief from England, a director of police from China, Germany, Guam, and leaders from 49 of the states (I think Idaho was left out this time).

Today was another day with a lot of down time. We had a meeting in the morning talking about reimbursement for travel to the academy (fun times!). After that, they loaded us all on buses and took us on a field trip into DC to the Holocaust museum. As we pulled into DC, we were met by 4 Capitol Police motorcycles. The FBI had arranged to have them escort us through the city. When I say 'escort', I mean they actually led us, lights and sirens, through the city, blocking all intersections. We drove all the way to the heart of DC without having to stop at all. It was amazing watching people's awe as they saw four buses being escorted through the mall and into the Law Enforcement Memorial. I wondered what they must be thinking. They gave us all box lunches and we sat around the memorial to eat. Between the museum and the memorial, it was a humbling experience.

We got back to the academy at about 2pm. I went to the gym and lifted weights and then for a 6 mile run through some back trails. I ran with a guy who is a very high up in the Alemeda Co. California Sheriff's office. It was interesting talking to him about his experiences and his duties. After the run, went to the cafeteria and ate. Now im just getting kind of bored. Since we have not started classes yet, I don't have any homework to work on. I know that sounds crazy, but that's why Im here.

The Academy has arranged some make-shift rooms throughout the buildings and we will be meeting tomorrow for a little while, but classes will start on Thursday.

Day 1

Well, it has been quite the journey to get here. 2500 miles across the heart of America is a long way to drive, but the sights were great. I would never have otherwise had the chance to see cornfields in Nebraska, Chicago, Toledo, South Bend, Intercourse, PA (yes, it is a real place), Washington DC, and so many other places, all within just a few days.

I arrived yesterday and checked in at the FBI academy. The process was pretty quick, but they would not let my wife come into the academy area so she had to wait in the lobby for quite a while as they gave us the tour of the place. After, we went back into DC and had a night of site seeing.

Today, I dropped my wife off at BWI airport and headed back to the academy for my first meeting. When I arrived, I found out that there had been a fire in the classroom building at the academy (apparently just after we left yesterday). That is going to cause some problems because they have to run a bunch of tests before they can let us back into the building. For now, we dont have any classrooms. Tomorrow morning, we are scheduled to meet in the auditorium and then go from there. I guess we will have to adapt.

The academy is a nice place. Dorms are very small and it is a lot like college with two beds in one room and four people sharing a bathroom. Definately not something a bunch of 40 year old men want to do. The work out facilities, however, are unbelievable. There are several different gyms with all sorts of workout equipment, weights, punching bags, etc., etc. If nothing else, we have a great chance to work out.

Still trying to get past the homesickness stage. When you have to leave loved ones behind, it is never easy. Even when you are anticipating having to leave, you can never be prepared for how much you actually miss them once you are gone.

I have not had the chance to take any photos of the academy yet. Hopefully I will post some soon.

Leaving Home :(

Today was a really tough day. I think all of my anxiety leading up to heading off to the FBI Academy was all about today...the day I have to say goodby to the kids. I will miss my wife too, but I have a week of travel with her. Today was all about the kids. We waited until after they got home from school so that we could give them all hugs and kisses. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be, knowing that I will not be back home for at least several weeks to visit. There were a lot of tears (OK, mostly mine), but we finally headed out.

The trip through Wyoming was boring as always. We finally decided to give up driving for the night and find a place in Cheyenne. Amazingly, the first two hotels we tried were sold out. Finally found a room at the Holiday Inn Express.

Only three days left until my wife and I make a long drive across country to Quantico, Virginia so that I can attend the FBI National Academy. She is going to drive there with me and then fly home next Sunday. I am excited to attend the Academy, it is a dream come true. I'm also a little nervous because I know that I am going to miss my family a lot. I've been looking at all of the sites in the DC area that I will try to visit on the weekends and don't know how I am going to get in all of the site seeing.