FBI NA #256 Week-5

Week 5- This week began with a Federal Holiday (Presidents Day) on Monday giving us at the academy a 3 day weekend. I took the opportunity to fly home and see the family after being gone for a little over 4 weeks. It was a great time at home, playing with the kids, watching new Walking Dead episodes with Erin. The boys and I went to see The Lego's Movie together. Kloe and I rode four wheelers while the weather stayed around 60 degrees with sun. It was a great weekend! Weather in Chicago delayed me for another day, so I ended up leaving Oklahoma Tuesday morning to return to the academy.

The challenge for this week was called the "Lions Leap". A 5K (3.1) mile run around the Academy grounds. After having Monday off and then not arriving back to the Academy until Tuesday, I have been slacking on my exercise routine.

The week went by very quick. I attended classes, started learning about interviewing suspects during interrogations and which tactics to use. Completed training on locating hidden/deleted computer files. I also completed a 15 page paper on intelligence oriented policing, with benefits to law enforcement agencies. 

Most students were preparing for a trip to New York City hosted by NYPD. I have been to NY in the past during Police Week, so I knew I would not be interested in going this time. The trip allocated a 100 seats for the 223 students here. Instead, I joined up Juan Perez from Miami-Dade Police Department and went out to a Brazilian Restaurant in Woodbridge, VA on Saturday night. Great dining experience!

Sunday I went with a group of people to Gettysburg to learn about one of country's most important battles during the Civil War. We toured the museum and the battlefield. It was surreal learning about the battle and then seeing the landscape and battle positions as the Soldiers did way back then.

We walked through the Gettysburg National cemetery where Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech, also saw the unknown Soldier grave markers.



Battle Painting (1892)



Battle Painting (1892)




Mike (Longbeach, CA), Nichole (LAPD), Joe (LA Co), Actor, ME, Ron (Simi Valley, CA), Juan (Miami, FL)



Union Captain uniform



Civil War Recruiting Poster



High Water Mark/Pickett's Charge



Lincoln speech location




Union side cannon




Cemetery



Pennsylvania War Memorial with names of every Union Soldier 

FBI NA Session 256-Week 4

Week 4- This week at the FBI National Academy started off with classes on Monday, then a dinner at the Quantico Officer Club.

After class in the Computer Crimes building, few of us students heard their was life size Hannibal wax figure downstairs in the Behavioral Science Unit floor. The area had been flooded out from a previous storm, so they were reorganizing the floor. We found Hannibal!



Todd, Mike, Pat, Me, Scott

Oklahoma Delegation

The Monday night dinner was sponsored by the International Chiefs of Police (IACP). It was a formal dinner where everyone wore business dress or agency dress uniform. It was a good experience since we all dressed in our best, and had time to converse about our law enforcement careers.



"This ain't Kansas"

This week's physical Challenge on Wednesday was "Not in Kansas Anymore".

Each section had to complete intervals of:
1. Stair ascents at the FBI Lab parking garage (6 levels)
2. Bursts up approx. 25 foot hill and then crab walk back down.
3. Band-resisted form runs on the infield of the running track.

All intervals were 10 min in length with jogging to each obstacle. Before we started each obstacle, we had to wait on all members of our section to show up. While waiting we were doing pushups or hanging out in the front leaning rest. Overall a great workout amongst peers, since each of us was motivating each other to go harder!

On Thursday, we were snowed in and thus canceled the daily operations of the academy. This meant no classes for us, but for most at the academy we had to get our cars to clear ground in order to drive to the airport the next day. I spent over an hour getting my and other cars out since it took more than three people just to get one car out.

I would estimate we received at least a foot or more of snow. I will fly home this weekend for a 3 day weekend. I am excited to see the family and enjoy some great Oklahoma weather.

FBI NA #256-Week 3

Week 3- So this week was kind of ordinary and full of classes. My classes are going well. I completed one of my assignments for Contemporary Issues in Law Enforcement. Our initial paper deals with an issue our home agency has recently or is going to deal with in the future. I wrote about shift scheduling since my agency recently within the last year began working 10 hour shifts, 8 days on, and 6 days off. It is impressive to see how other agencies represented here at the National Academy have the same issue. I have even had several students (Honolulu PD) ask me about our schedule since it gives all officers every other weekend off and eliminates most overtime. In a couple of weeks I will be required to submit another paper on the issue with feedback from other students obtained through a open discussion on my topic. I will also research sources who support or oppose this discussion topic for my final paper. Exciting!

This week on Wednesday, we were supposed to an outdoor challenge, but due to weather (Ice/Snow) we completed challenge #3 indoors. It was called The Cyclone-a 20 minute circuit of body stations. We had to complete 4 rounds of 5 different exercises using an interval timer of 45 second work periods 15 second recovery/rotation periods. Here are some pictures of my roommate and Oklahoma representatives. I was trying to represent my section I am assigned to, Section 3!

On Friday night, 25-30 of us got together and met at a traditional restaurant, which is a must visit during the National Academy attendance. The restaurant is called The Globe and Laurel, named after the Marine Corps Emblem. The owner is Major (Ret.) Rick Spooner, who fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He came into the restaurant as we were beginning to eat and invited us to join him in the cigar lounge to share experiences. He is a very strong supporter of the FBI NA. The restaurant also has police patches all over the ceilings and military memorabilia from every branch. My kind of restaurant! We sat and ate in a room dedicated to J. Edgar Hoover.

After dinner we all went to the cigar lounge to meet with Maj Spooner. Over half of us bought one of his books and sat with him while he told stories. In about two hours, he personalized and signed each book. It was a great experience sitting and speaking with someone whose memory was still so precise with details.

Major (Ret) Rick Spooner





Signed a book for me