illustratesRodrigo Martins
edition Felipe van Deursen
It is a 2.2 square kilometer complex within a US Marine base. In addition to training agents, the center, located in Quantico, Virginia, offers specializations to police and military personnel. New agent training takes about 20 weeks. In the first phase, there are more than 800 hours of academic courses (some of them online), criminal case studies, operational and weapons skills training.
How do you enter?
The first steps before setting foot in Quantico
american thing
Anyone who is not a US citizen or has a criminal history cannot apply. The person also cannot participate in government-subsidized programs, such as student scholarships, or have failed to perform military service.
war on drugs
Have you used marijuana in the last three years or used steroids in the last ten? If the urine test is positive, that’s it. Manufacturing, marketing and transporting drugs also automatically voids the candidate. If the person consumed any over-the-counter prescription medication in the last 36 months, they are also excluded from the selection.
bureaucracy time
After the first round, those who are not excluded receive four forms to fill out. With the data collected, the FBI investigates the candidate’s past and present, who still needs to pass a polygraph test, the lie detector. The investigation involves interviews with people connected to the candidate and data checking, and can last up to six months.
Body and mind
Did you go through everything this far? Now the real selection begins, with academic tests in English, math, physics and the basics of law. And then there are the physical tests, which involve one minute of sit-ups, a 300 m timed sprint, push-ups with no time limit and a 2.4 km timed run. Candidate must score on all four physical tests
inside quantum
Highlights in FBI Agent Training
Amusement park
Hogan Alley is a fake town, with banks, pharmacies, supermarkets and other services typical of any small town. It is used for investigation simulations, weapons training, and decision-making assessment. Instructors themselves assume roles of criminals and terrorists
not crazy gym
Trainees receive more than 90 hours of instruction in practical operations planning exercises, cooperating with witnesses and informants, surveillance and undercover operations, for example. The basic curriculum includes self defense with boxing techniques, ground fighting, tackling and stoppage. There are also defensive driving techniques and vehicle operations
psychedelia
On the “Yellow Brick Road” circuit (in reference to the film The Wizard of Oz), the trainees tackle a mountainous course of 9.8 km. The nickname is due to the road’s yellow bricks, which improve the visibility of the path in stretches of forest. Streams, artificial windows, rocky walls, barbed wires and mud are part of the route. Those who complete the course win one of the bricks.
First-person shooter
VirtSim is a virtual reality tactical training developed by the FBI itself. It has a 3D technology that uses motion capture to create a 360-degree environment. The system projects the action of criminals and victims in more than 120 scenarios, such as homes, schools, offices, warehouses, airports and restaurants
READ TOO
– How did the CIA and the FBI come about?
– What are the differences between US and Brazilian police?
SOURCES FBI website and FBI Public Affairs Department