When Waldo County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jason Trundy first found out he had been selected to Attend the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) National Academy, he immediately began preparing.

According to the FBI, the program “serves to improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies at home and abroad and to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation worldwide.”

The 10-week program that focuses on academic coursework, physical training, and networking, and includes participants from law enforcement agencies all over the world.

The program takes place at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.

Trundy received word he had been selected for the program in May and immediately started physical workouts.

“When I found out I was selected for [the academy] I really started training hard,” Trundy said. “I wanted to represent myself, my agency, and my county well when I attended.”

Each male participant was required to be able to complete a one-mile run in less than 10 minutes, while Trundy said he believes the time for women is around 11 minutes, 30 seconds. The ability to run a mile in the allotted timespan also gave participants the chance to complete the Yellow Brick Road challenge that takes place at the end of the program.

Trundy, who counted the physical training among the most challenging aspects of the program, was able to complete the ultimate challenge when the time came, snagging a piece of the road to take back to the sheriff’s office as a token of success. The obstacle course, which was designed by the United States Marine Corps, is a six-plus mile obstacle course.

Trundy’s class marked the 273rd session and consisted of 228 participants, which he said is small, with the incoming class closer to 270 participants. The group was broken into five sections for the program.

The academic portion of the program, which consisted of six college or master’s level courses in partnership with the University of Virginia, was likewise challenging. Participants take six classes during their 10-week program, with two courses required and the rest left up to the participants to choose for themselves.

That allows different members of law enforcement to choose classes that are tailored to their respective agency and the demographic they handle. The two required classes are physical fitness and a class where different speakers lecture on a variety of topics. Trundy’s courses included media relations and public speaking, which he called “exceptional.”

Though physical fitness and academics are two components of the academy, the third part, networking, is somewhat less challenging.

In addition to having participants from every single state, there were law enforcement executives from agencies of all sizes, ranging from members of the New York Police Department, with 35,000 members, to agencies with just a half dozen officers. To increase the depth of knowledge further, international members of the law enforcement community are also invited to attend.

“I understand they try to have a minimum 25 [international] students in every class,” Trundy said. “[Our class] had international students from Morocco, Cyprus, Italy, England, Djibouti, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, I mean literally everywhere.”

Trundy said the impressive network of fellow law enforcement executives offer a breadth of knowledge and experience.

“It was interesting because when you get not only a cross-section of all kinds of agencies around the country, and then you get that international element in there… when you get into the classroom with 25 or 30 other students and you’re discussing particular topics, the conversations are incredible,” he said.

“This course is really designed for executive level law enforcement officers, people who have attained some rank and are in the command staff level of their agencies,” he said, explaining that most of the students attending the program were in their 40s to early 50s, with the youngest participant in their 30s.

The majority of the students have decades of law enforcement experience, and there were often ready suggestions for any areas of concern.

“That kind of exchange took place for 10 weeks, as we all worked through our classes or in general conversations around the agency, whether it was lunch or where it might have been,” he said.

After completing the 10-week course students also become part of the FBI Academy Associates, which is a 17,000-member-strong association with regional chapters.

“It’s an incredible resource, especially when you’re a small agency like we are. To be able to reach out to a group that has that kind of knowledge and experience working with issues, there is probably nothing I will ever run across as an issue where I can’t reach out to these folks,” he said.

Trundy is a member of the New England chapter, which includes Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

The 273rd session was originally scheduled to graduate Friday, Sept. 14, however, the ceremony was moved ahead a day in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

In addition to a wealth of knowledge and an international network of law enforcement experience, Trundy said he took the 273rd session’s motto home with him, “always add value.”

Related stories:

FBI to host Waldo County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy for National Academy. 

Knox County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Timothy Carroll completes FBI Academy program

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com