Hello [firstname],
FFDO Stakeholder MeetingFFDO Stakeholder Meeting
Held 28 Jun 24 at the Federal Air Marshal Training Center (FAMTC)Atlantic City, NJ (ACY)
The stakeholder holder meeting in ACY was well attended by several FFDOA members and leadership as well as TSA FFDO Program Branch Manager Denise Stark-Jones and Deputy Branch Manager Daniel Kuhn. Also, the Federal Air Marshal Service Director, Mr. Brian Belcher, joined us for a short time with a quick briefing and to answer questions.
This meeting was a special one, as it was held directly after the first official Senior FFDO Training Program. (MORE TO COME ON THIS LATER!)
The program reports that the FFDO population is growing, and we are recovering, slowly but surely, to pre-COVID levels, which represented an approximate 18% loss in active officers. Mission count remains high, and FFDOs are on track to exceed the mission count from FY23 by a significant number.
FFDOs have accomplished over 22 million flights since the program’s inception costing the government around $22 per mission. As President of FFDOA, I want to personally thank each FFDO for their contribution, as this is a significant statistic that should not be overlooked….no other government program in existence has operated more efficiently and effectively in my humble opinion. WELL DONE!
FFDO program budget is hovering around 26 million for FY24, which is a good number to continue to pursue the program initiatives, with the priority being the completion and build out of the Atlanta Recurrent Training Facility (RTP) facility. We were assured by Mr. Belcher that this project is funded and in process. This will allow ATL RTP to plus up to full attendance (2 classes per week, 24 FFDOs per class) like Dallas RTP, which will give FFDOs more opportunities to complete their required training.
FFDOA, along with the other representative associations such as ALPA, CAPA, & SWAPA will continue to advocate for a West Coast RTP facility as well as a future initiative.
As a quick note on the firearms refresh, 99.6% of FFDOs completed the transition to the G19, so good job to everyone for completing this requirement.
I am going to cut this update a bit short to give everyone a debrief on the brand new Senior FFDO program training:
SENIOR FFDO
I was fortunate, as well as other FFDOA Officers and Stakeholders, to participate in the first Senior FFDO Training Program (SFTP) class. All our respective associations have been advocating for this advanced training for FFDOs for YEARS now, so seeing it come fruition was especially satisfying.
However, without the program leadership’s staunch support, it would have never been a reality, so we owe a debt of gratitude to Denise and Dan.
Also, SFAM Eric Johnson, who you will meet if you attend SFTP, championed this from day one and has built something special for FFDOs, which we HIGHLY recommend attending, should you qualify. (The program has published eligibility requirements and program specifics via a dashboard message)
The training was outstanding. SFAM Johnson has built a curriculum to assess each FFDO’s firearms proficiency and give meaningful, challenging drills and instruction to improve their skill set. FFDOs will practice one hand survivor tactics, low light drills, utilize simmunitions, defensive tactics, and outstanding FAM / FFDO situational exercises.
Again, I can’t recommend this training highly enough to not only improve your proficiency, but also foster an environment to train, serve and mentor as Senior FFDOs. Senior FFDOs will receive new credentials which will identify them as having completed the program.
That’s it for today! There is more to cover which I will detail in another blast or through the FFDOA Forums.
Keep an eye out for program updates and FFDO open houses which are scheduled throughout FY24!
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT FFDOA TO OTHER FFDOs!!!!
SEMPER VIGILANS!
Bill Cason
FFDOA President
