AST Digital Magazine August 2017 Digital-Aug | Page 54

Volume 15
August 2017 Edition
Becoming an FBI Agent, An Inside Look at
What It Takes
Follow a class of trainees as they spend more than 20 weeks
at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where they’ll learn
what it takes to become a special agent. The training will
be taxing on many levels—academically, physically, and psy-
chologically—and success is far from guaranteed.
By the FBI
The First Week
dorm assignments. At one of the stops, trainees
receive standard-issue polo shirts, khaki pants,
and workout gear.
This diverse band of trainees is converging on
Quantico from across the country with one goal
in mind: to complete the Basic Field Training
Course and become special agents of the FBI.
It’s a hot afternoon in August, and the last of the
trainees steps off a coach bus parked outside a
dormitory at the FBI Academy.
One by one, young men and women from all
walks of life make their way toward the entrance
with luggage in tow.
A sense of nervous excitement can be felt as
supervisors, counselors, and others meet each
trainee inside the lobby.
They shuffle from station to station and gather
paperwork, equipment, class schedules, and
(The first weeks of training at the FBI Academy can be both
exciting and nerve wracking. For many new trainees, the ar-
rival at Quantico is a significant step in a lifelong journey to