I posted this in GD before I remembered we have a dedicated LEO forum...

Anyway, I (finally) landed a FLEO job and I'll be heading off to FLETC soon for CITP. For those of you that have been before, what am I in for? Is it like boot camp? How are the academics and PT? How's the food and barracks?

Any general advice or even just stories? I'd love to hear it all.

It will all depend on the program you're in, but I would be prepared for CITP to be one of the more structured programs, especially with the pt.  I don't think you'll have instructors breaking down the doors and screaming at you to wake up, but you'll be expected to show up on time to the days class. Download the FLETC mobile app and read the handbook before going.

I believe CITP has uniform standards, so they'll give you that info at check in.  I wore civies the entire time so I couldn't really tell you the process.

There are free washers and dryers.  You'll figure out a good time that works for you, mine was typically early Sat or Sun mornings.

Brunswick stinks! I mean, literally, there is a weird smell... Also, that place is a little run down and ghetto. Although the nearby islands are nice and worth going to on the weekend.

Living arrangements vary.  They are overcrowded like a mutha.  Typically, I believe most CITP classes will stay on campus. TSA has 500 TSO's on campus at any given time, and CBP has hundreds of CBPO's too, they take of a big portion of the campus, which includes housing.  I heard that they were bunking 4 to a room over the summer, but that may have just been the TSO's.  They are still recovering from the hurricane that hit them two years ago.

You'll know it when TSA and CBP let out for lunch because every place you have to pick from to eat is crowded.  The good thing is each program tries to varies their lunch times to not overload the chow hall.  The food does vary and isn't terrible.  There are plenty of choices.  Dinner time sucks though, because they don't always open up all the seating and you may be struggling to find a seat.

You may be housed off campus in a hotel. That is what happened to me over the summer and I was put up in a mold infested hotel which also broke many of the DHS/FLETC contracts, but FLETC didn't care at all despite numerous complaints from multiple people. If that is the case they'll have shuttle buses to transport you.

If you can, drive yourself.  If you're in CITP you'll be there what...5 months? You'll want a ride.  But drive the speed limit, it's 25mph, don't go over.  They keep track of how many times you get pulled over and can have your privileges revoked.  It's very much like a military bases, if you've ever been on one. Probably because FLETC is a former military bases.

The area around campus sucks and is run down but there is at least a movie theater and a decent gym nearby with some smoking hot women but it's pretty crowded (Baileys) and they'll do short term contracts or day passes. A lot of FLETC folks use it. The YMCA has an OK gym set up which isn't too crowded.  There is also a Planet Fitness in the mall. The gym on FLETC sucks! Lots of equipment shoved in tiny small places and everyone is trying to use, especially in the afternoon before they start dinner.  The outside setup isn't too bad but it could be used by any number of classes training. You'll also have to wear the FLETC issued clothes in the gym and ladies that you retrieve them from are a pain in the ass.

You'll be told to eat lunch on campus and not to go off campus for lunch.  LOTS of people go off campus for lunch, if they have the means.  You won't get pulled over by campus security.  But if you notice certain security measures just randomly change one day that probably because someone got caught doing something they shouldn't have.  I heard about a CBPO recruit who got friendly with a local, snuck her on campus in his truck and had fun all night.  When housekeeping found a random girl in the barracks the next day they called security.  Next day everyone had their trunks looked in.

If you have pizza delivered, tip them well. They go through some shit to get in the gate.  I mean you would think they were going through secondary screening at the border.

Excellent. Thanks a lot for taking the time to write all that out. One question I have; is there anything that would be useful to study/know before going? Should I study the US code now? Before I went to boot camp I made sure to memorize things like my general orders, ranks, etc,. Is there any super basic stuff like that that I can learn now?

You'll probably get more direct answers to that on forums like 911jobs, delphi, federal soup, or officer.com.  You may even find a specific thread to the agency you'll be working for.  I've only had former co-workers go through CITP.

Honestly, I don't know how much of the US code you'll be expected to memorize.  You'll probably be more expected to know how to find the answers and where to look in the book seek the answer, but someone else might be able to answer that question better.  I think most FLETC programs know they would have huge failure rates if they expected their classes to memorize every bit of information, especially when it came to federal laws.  If you were going through the FBI academy it would probably be a bit different.

You might even be able to find information about the program on FLETC's site that can give you more info on what to expect.  From what I've been told from people I know is that each class is usually a mix of 1811's from various agencies. Each class is usually around 24 with maybe two classes going at a time.  You'll get more agency specific training after you graduate from CITP.

If you have a POC at your future agencies HQ or local field office I would reach out to them and see what they have to say.  They'll be a good source of info specific to what you can do to prepare.  But you'll have plenty of time to study in your after class hours.

A few other things to remember:  Learn the phrase "out of role".  Role players are a big part of FLETC training.  Some training may have students getting a description of a suspect and looking for that suspect.  You could get approached by students training thinking you're that person they are looking for and that phrase lets them know your than their person.

FLETC is also the model for a big brother society.  That place has excellent cameras all over the campus and inside the classes (maybe not every class room, but some do). They are mic'd too.  If you get any time to spend in training with the physical security course guys you'll get to see this first hand.  So for example, if you see a turtle don't pick it up, throw it like a football, and then lie about doing it when asked later because it's probably on camera.  Not that I've heard of such things being done, just remember if approached about some stupid behavior the people asking questions probably already know the answers to the questions they are asking and have seen the video and heard the audio.

FLETC in more recent years has become more of a college campus than a LE academy.

I first went through FLETC in 1998, and it was run like a state trooper academy... No walking on the grass, you class marched as a group to every function, you stood up when an instructor entered the room, and you walked to everywhere on the base.

I was down there last year and these days its more like a college campus. People all walking around and not walking the extra 10' to stay on the sidewalk and just cutting across the grass. Uniforms are issued for all basic classes, and you'll see some people wearing it with some pride, and you'll see some wearing it like they are hanging out on their couch at home. PT is a joke these days for all but the US Marshals Service and the Border Patrol guys. The days of getting smacked around during defensive tactic are gone, and you'll only hit a heavy bag with gloves instead of boxing against another student... Gone are the days of the instructors making you do pushups till you puked because you flagged someone on the firing line, and gone are the days of making the class run an extra mile because you were late getting out onto the field.

Its a kinder-gentler FLETC these days, just like everything else. No more drill sgt PT instructors, walk on the grass, no one is going to call you out, busses take you everywhere on campus, Wi-Fi in the dorms, good cell service, personal phones are allowed to be carried 24/7, and everyone is afraid to call out any students for doing wrong.

The dorms can be nice hotel like, or they can be crappy college dorm nasty. It all depends on which location you are put in. Most basic level classes are housed on base.

CITP is about 12 weeks, depending on how many holidays fall into your time there. No classes on federal holidays. Normal schedule is Mon-Fri, 8a-4p although there will be days that you'll do some night operations, so you actually break out early and come back and work from about 7 to 930PM. CITP classes are 48 people, and can be a single agency full class or it can be a few people from a dozen different agencies. The classes that are made up of all the different agencies are the best ones to be in. The diversity of experience and backgrounds are what make a good class.

Most of the CITP instructors are recently retired from LE, and not all were feds. Some were state and local guys, but all will be well versed in the areas they teach. Its rare to find an instructor in the CITP program that isn't a SME in the topic they are teaching. Most of the law classes are taught by former prosecutors, some that were also LE before going to law school.

The base, with the exception of the dorms, has the best of everything. The best shooting ranges, the best driving tracks, the best gym equipment, the best simulations, the best role players and the best established program to bring it all together. If you do your part and pay attention and give an honest 100%, you will learn from it and come out a better investigator for it.

The one truly bad thing (some of the dorms suck, but you can deal with it) is the food. The mess hall will get old really fast and you'll find yourself going off base to eat dinner. During the day you don't really have time to go off base and eat lunch unless you have some kind of operation scheduled that gives you extra time. You eat at the mess hall or the G-bar. (G-bar as per FLETC nomenclature stands for Government bar, but with 4,000 guys and about 400 women, you can figure out what the students call it). The mess hall has a weekly rotation of the menu. Every Monday is the same, every Tuesday is the same etc. There is a selection of hot and cold foods available, and the salad bar is pretty decent all things considered. If you pay attention to what you eat and avoid the fried crap, you can eat pretty healthy. The one thing they actually can make pretty well is fried chicken. Fried chicken Tuesday is the highlight of the week on the lunch menu. Aside from that, everything else is standard cafeteria food.

The local area is a little ghetto, although its a thousand times better than it was 20 years ago. The islands are the nice part though. Only about 10 minutes by car puts you onto St Simons island. There are great places to eat and drink, and really nice hotels if you have family come to graduation. Its where you will spend your weekends if you want to get off base.

Don't mess with the local cops. They don't like FLETC, FLETC students, or even FLETC instructors. They have seen every kind of badge on the planet, and heard every agency name tossed out to them on a car stop. They give zero courtesy, and if you get pulled over, you have a 99.9% chance of getting a ticket. Understand as a fed, your starting salary is more than the patrol Sgt is making. Glynn County PD and Brunswick PD are all over the place and when the sign says 30mph, you will get stopped for 35 and written a ticket. DWI is one of the fastest ways to get kicked out of FLETC. You get pulled over and are even slightly under influence, you are getting cuffed, printed, processed, and a phone call made to the academy. Your instructor will not come "talk to the cop and get you out", you will be booted from the academy, and most likely lose your job. I was in class one morning last year and our instructor walked in, visibly pissed off, and told us he just got written a ticket for 34 in a 30, three blocks from the main gate. He was a retired Michigan State trooper... Glynnco PD didn't care, wrote him anyway.
FLETC has their own on-base police force. They are armed contract guards with arrest authority on the base. Most are retired cops and some are even former Fed LE. They will show up for noise complaints after hours at the dorms, come check out who's hanging out at the baseball field drinking and who has a campfire going in the picnic area at 11:30pm. They are at the gates checking ID's and searching your car, and if you are a hot mess, they will make note of it. They can pull you over anywhere on base, and while they don't write a traffic ticket for a fine, they will give you a citation that gets reported to FLETC administration and your home agency. Depending on what it is, you will lose your driving privileges and you may be in serious trouble, especially if you gave the FLETC five-oh a hard time when they stopped you. Anyone on base must have their FLECT ID displayed 24/7 except inside the gym or outside if you are wearing FLETC PT issued gear. Your ID is also your room key. So if you are stopped on the base, they will have your ID, or if you forgot it, they may hold you until someone gets it if its close by. The first time you are stopped on base without your ID you may get a warning depending on what you got stopped for, the next time you will be taken back to the admin building to get ID'ed and your class coordinator will be notified. No one gets on base without a FLETC ID or a visitors pass. If you leave the base without your ID, you have to get a temporary pass at the admin building to get back on base. The second time your class coordinator is notified you forgot your ID... If you lose your FLETC ID, you can get a new one issued, but notification is sent again. Don't be that guy.

If you are down there for 12+ weeks, you will hear about at least one student from another class (or maybe your own class) getting arrest and fired for an alcohol related offense off base, or someone getting caught on base doing something they shouldn't have.

Bottom line, FLETC is what you make of it.

Show up on time, ask questions during class, give 100% during PT, act as you would on the street for the practical exams and hands on portions. Try and get the academic award, the PT award, the driving award, the shooting award, and even the honor graduate award. You get a nice certificate for each, and bragging rights to your family (co-workers won't care).
Study a couple hours each night Mon-Fri, and use the weekends to get out and go see whats around the area. St. Augustine, Savannah, Daytona Beach are all easy drives. The islands are close by and filled with decent places to go.

Make friends with your classmates, relationships built during CITP will come in handy years down the road when you need a contact in *** agency. Its nice to get a call from a CITP classmate years later when they need help and you get to catch up. Cherish those relationships, and keep in contact. Years later when your boss asks "does any have a contact at *** agency?" or "does anyone know anyone in the Orlando office?" You want to be the one who can pick up a phone and call that person.

If you want to "just participate to graduate" and spend your nights and weekends hanging around base and drinking beer, and never go out with your classmates, you can do that too. Your experience will suck, and it will be a miserable 12 weeks. If you finish with an 80.01 average on your tests and "acceptable" for all graded exercises, you get the same CITP certificate as the honor graduate. So yea, if that's what you want, you can pass and move along. Every class has one or two of those guys, and they are miserable. Don't be that guy.

Stop eating chicken now.  Trust me, you'll have more chicken there than you could have ever imagined.  Uniform of the day was khaki 5.11 and blue polo with FLETC logo.

PT was structured and every other day.  Also come to grips with "It's not the real way, it's the FLETC way".

Also, make sure to stop by the Red Carpet.

Watch out for the FLETC 5-0 and the local cops...  They hate Fleatech student and will cut you zero slack.  Also, don't sleep with the instructors' wives.  They tend to frown on that as well.

Bullet wounds and cesarean scars a plenty...

Make sure to wear crime scene boot protectors before going in.

I'll also add, that CITP is a very lax program. PT standards are very easy, only a few smoke sessions.

Basic Handcuffing, Basic Defensive Tactics.

The program is geared for almost 0 LE knowledge, (although virtually ALL students have some experience).

You'll have a Case to work as a group that leads from tip to trial (again very easy).

You'll have a blast, just make sure you bring a car, or befriend someone with a car. They recently banned bikes on campus.

Your add-on (insert agency) can be MUCH harder. PM me privately with your agency and if it's a major one I can give you some insight.

Congrats on becoming an 1811! Work hard, and may your duty station be where you want to go!

For fuck's sake dude get your shit straight!

The cleaning ladies never found any girl... Campus security found her because she was an escort and the dude kicked her out of the room without paying her and she tried beating down the door until campus police arrived... At least I think that's the one you're talking about? Sometime in 2011, although I'd imagine that's just one of many security mishaps so maybe I'm mistaken

OP, I didn't go through CITP but a lot of dudes in my dorm at FLETC did. There is a uniform but it's a polo and 5.11s with some tan boots. Not a big deal. PT is structured but is (was?) EXTREMELY light, like light even compared to bullshit CBPO standards. There is no marching or any other stupid bullshit for CITP. You're going to college with some firearms classes pretty much, really wouldn't stress.

It happened in early 2011 and IIRC over at the Taj building.   Also had two BoPers or CBPers (can't remember) that got into a fight over a video game and one stabbed the other in the Taj around the same time.  I liked staying over at the Roach Coach in my Club 10.42 as it was the closest to the class building and the chow hall.  Plus you didn't have any roommates since they're single rack rooms.

But you have to share a bathroom... Which is fine until you get the neighbor from hell who likes to take 45 minute showers and has some kind of gastro intestinal problem that makes the bathroom smell like a slaughter house in the summer sun....

PM sent

Sounds like you knew like all 4 of the BoP roommates they cycled in with me. It's not all bad I guess. One of the fine ladies in my class had a late night "study session" with one guy then walked through the bathroom and "studied" with his friend too since they never closed those bathroom doors.

Yea, one of my classmates was tagging a "FLETC 10" for a month while we were there... He was single, she was married. He fell in love, she went home. He sent flowers. It was bad... We kept telling him "out of role!!!" but he had a hard time the last month we were there, until we took him to a strip club in Daytona and he realized she wasn't that good looking in the first place.

My favorite expression told to students by the instructors at FLETC is "Its not love, you're just lonely..."

This is good info thanks for asking OP. Im going to be heading  down to FLETC soon for the fed job I just got.

Lol. My wife actually went too, I told her to watch out because it'll be like a bucket of sausages getting thrown at her if she went to the g bar. She didn't listen and within five minutes she's showing the dude her ring saying "get lost" and he flashes his and said "that's why I'm talking to you, you won't tell mine and I won't tell yours".  Some people dude.

CITP is basically college classes, but with guns and occasional PT.  If you're prior LE you won't have any trouble with any of the courses / skills.  Hopefully you got hired by an agency that doesn't have an add-on down there and does it someplace else...

Pretty much everything major has already been touched on.  The food is okay - but you're going to get burned out of the chow rather quickly.  Try and get away from campus and go out to St. Simons / Jekyll Island as much as you can.  Eat at Southern Soul BBQ.  Don't give the local cops any reason to interact with you - they absolutely, positively do not give a fuck that you're fed LE.  Not their fault - it's the other 87 proto-Feds they've pulled over for speeding that were a-holes...

Make sure you've got your car - even if you have to drive the damn thing from Cali or something.

I hear they don't chase "Grouper" anymore?

ETA:  Oh, and let me know if they tell you the story about the trainee finding marijuana on a role-player during a search exercise.

Hope you like Chicken!!!! hahahahahahah!  Good luck it's a breeze.

I'm sure that's exactly how it went down

I was there when said trainee found alittle bit of smoke on the role player, and a subsequent car search found a pistol. Hilarious enough, no charges just a boot out the gate!

smoke and mirrors.

Beware the cleaning ladies, they will steal your stuff, and flirt with you

First time I went there was 2005, when Americor aka Ameriwhores we’re on campus. Heard lots of stories about people having fun out with them on the boarding boats, orgy in the bar in the barracks. Went back in 2008 and the entire organization had been kicked off FLETC. I was lucky enough to have my truck, so I could drive to the mall, out to the beach, just get out of the area in general. The food was a lot better than at my unit, so I was actually kinda impressed that it wasn’t shitty. In 2005 they had a track for the 1.5 mile run. In 2008 it was gone (building built over it?) and nobody knew there had ever been a track and we had to run the PT test in some nosensical route through the barracks. Oh and the goddamn PT gear. We were issued short shorts, calf socks, Chuck taylors, and YELLED at to not walk over the CBP logo on the floor. Don’t know why they put it on the floor if you can’t walk on it. Should have put it on the wall.

Thanks for all the input from former FLETC.  I am retiring from this career and hoping to start my 3rd. I had looked up FLETC and found the 2 locations and some of their info but first hand real guy knowledge is invaluable.

You must be talking about somewhere other than Glynco FLETC. The track directly in front of the Gym complex has been there for 30+ years and there is a newer second track behind the 270 dorms (the crack house dorms).My brother went through Glynco in 1989, I went through in 1998, and another tdy in 2016. Same track all three times.

Lots of other stuff has changed since they got a ton of money after 9/11, but the gym and the main track are still the same.

I miss the old BP obstacle course that was off in the woods back in 98'. It used to be where the Taj dorms are now. Was an old school like military basic training course with ropes, towers, sand pits, logs etc.

I'm sick of that place.  Graduated in 1994-Glynco, GA.  The last 2 years, I've been back for 3 times for 1 week refresher training.
Food still sucks.  The good thing- the air is cleaner.  Used to smell like paper (near the paper factories).  
I can retire in 3 weeks.  Ha HA.

Yeah I was talking about FLETC Charleston, which was a huge BP place before the CG took over. Tons of state agencies and DOE still trained there.

FLETC Charleston was the jewel of the three centers. It was like a vacation paradise that people wished for, then got sent to Glynco, GA if you were lucky or Artesia, NM if you weren't...

These days, almost all the BP goes to Artesia along with the occasional class of Air Marshals.

99% of everyone else goes to Glynco, which is still the Mothership for FLETC.

I started with the BP and went to Charleston before I went to FLETC with my current agency. Charleston was definitely a better city to be in than Glynco on the weekends.

The only good thing about Glynco is its proximity to the highway and not-so-bad driving distance to other places like Savannah, Jacksonville or Daytona, and of course the islands if only to get out for dinner and off the base...

Truth. What I couldn't understand is how an area with that many dudes making decent money and quite a few on per diem all while being away from their spouses or single didn't have at least one decent strip club. Seems like it would be a gold mine

Did you look at the local residents when you were there?? Eeeeek...

They aren't making the money we are...

If they have money, they live on the islands, and a majority of those that do, are retired folks or FLETC staff.
So your choice for talent is:
old
soccer moms
ghetto goblins
or
meth heads

Not much to choose from to staff a strip club, hence why the red carpet is, what it is. Mostly ghetto trash and meth heads with terrible boob jobs.

My brother used to be an instructor there.
He said everybody was pretty cool but that the BATF guys were idiots.
Little vacation with some exercise and you'll learn some stuff.  It isn't like SEAL training where a small percentage graduates.
You'll be fine.

anyone down in Glynco send me a message

I thought the food was great

The range was cold in winter

And the Doc at the clinic let me continue training with a probable cracked rib because I refused an xray to prove it.

The "A" group at the Red Carpet on Friday and saturday nights barely had enough teeth between them all to make a full set,  and not a single one of them didn't have a C Sec scar.  If it's still there, you gotta go just once to say you've been... but wear crime scene booties and don't bring a UV light for christ sake.  

Thanks everyone for the replies, advice, PM's, and stories. I apologize for not replying sooner but I've been busy as hell the last few months. The shutdown screwed everything up schedule wise but the end result is that I came to FLETC sooner than scheduled.

So far, it's not too bad. It really does feel like college except with red guns. I'm in one of the dorms with a shared bathroom. Definitely not fancy but I'll take it as it's not the doubled up rooms. The G-bar is....interesting. There was some interesting people watching there over the weekend. I can't believe some of these people are going to become fed security/LEO's.

Nearly every forum I've read about FLETC has people mentioning the Red Carpet so I had to visit. Honestly, I was a little disappointed because it wasn't that bad. I've been in much grimier places before. Maybe that says more about me than it does the RC. There were actually 3-4 girls there that I thought "damn, she's hot"! I was informed that the place has been renovated somewhat recently though so maybe that's part of it.

I do have to say that my head was kind of swimming with the 5th & 6th Amendment lectures. On the surface it doesn't seem that complicated but all the various scenarios are a bit overwhelming for someone that has zero LE experience.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone. Back to studying!

Yeah the G Bar is all fucking TSA now.

Forgot to mention before... Take a ride down Altama ave to "Willie's Wee-Nee Wagon" and get some of the best food in brunswick...

Place has been there forever. Its twice the size now as it was when I was there in 98. Same people own it though. outdoor picnic tables with a walk up window.

ETA: Get the "Bull Dog" or the "Brunswick Dog"... or one of each

I'll be back there at the end of the month.  Although, I'm told I get to stay on an island this time

Lots of baked chicken and key lime pie.

Go easy on the pie.

That’s a big negative. It was two CITP marshals, right when the went two to a room in the Taj in 08. I was the floor above when it happened.

Makes sense. Went to IOBTC in 08 and CITP in 11. There was a crspload of CBP types in that TAJ building so we all assumed it was those guys. Was right around the same time that CBP had a guy ND into his leg on the range with the Serpa holster fiasco.

Must have been Border Patrol or Air and Marine with the SERPA.  Although, BP is in NM or WV for training.  So I guess it was an AMO guy as CBPOs (blue shirts) were never issued SERPAs.

I'm scheduled to be there for two weeks the later part of March.

There was a sexual assault on base. Glynn Co Sheriffs made an arrest. From what I know 2 individuals from the same agency involved but I was not told which agency.

We we got the riot act from my agency (it wasn't mine).

Wow, shit bag was 20 years old.  He could have had a long great career ahead of him but fucked that all up.  He was a CBPO, so starting out with them at 20 years old wouldn't be too damn bad at that age, making some great money.

https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/police-charge-fletc-student-with-rape/article_bfc3fd90-242f-5470-a577-27223b8b4cdf.html

Finished my first day at FLETC today.  Geez...lunchtime at the dining hall was crowded as hell.  I thought the food was good though.  I got pushed off campus for housing but my training, lodging, and meals are free so I can't complain.

What's your hotel situation like? Is it a shithole? Last summer they put me up in the not-so-quality inn behind the HD dealership.  That was disgusting and I might have mold forever growing in my lungs.

This last trip they put me up on SSI. I didn't complain one bit lol