Sun, 09/30/2018 - 7:00pm

Erica Thoms

Chief Deputy Jason Trundy (left) poses with the yellow brick he earned after completing the FBI National Academy’s Yellow Brick Road challenge. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Members of the 273rd session pose with their yellow bricks. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

The 223 members of the 273rd session were broken into five groups. Chief Trundy poses with his group, group 5, at the start of the 10-week program. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A member of the 273rd session cleans a Sept. 11, 2001, memorial at the FBI’s Quantico Virginia campus. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A 9/11 memorial at the FBI’s Quantico, Virginia headquarters. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Chief Trundy sits among classmates at the FBI National Academy (back row, third from right). (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Chief Trundy (closest to camera) competing in a fitness challenge during the second week of the program. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Speakers during week two included Deputy Timothy Whitcomb, who discussed post-traumatic stress disorder. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

FBI Special Agent In Charge Aaron Rouse spoke about the Mandalay Bay shooting that occurred in Las Vegas in 2017. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

An event called the Patch, Pin, and Coin Night, took place the second week, where all 228 members of the 273rd session were invited to exchange patches, pins, and other memorabilia they brought along. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A keyring exchanged during the event. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A Mongolian police shield was also shared at the event. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Patches from the individual agencies present are formed into the program’s session number. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A group of speakers addressing the group during the fourth week of the program. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Chief Trundy (left) poses retired Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Police Chief Edward Flynn, who spoke to the group. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

The physical challenge during the fourth week was called the Sandbag Relay. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Students participate in physical fitness activities. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Students brought items to offer at an auction near the end of the 10-week program. Retired Waldo County Sheriff’s Deputy Gene Rego (left) donated a moose shed he had discovered in Maine’s northern woods.

After a bidding war between Rodney Gehrett, of the El-Paso Sheriff’s Office in Colorado, and Mohammed Al-Qarni, of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Al-Qarni ended up winning the item for $420. The over $30,000 raised by the auction will be split between three charities: Concerns of Police Survivors, Pink Patch Project, and 10-99 Foundation. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Chief Deputy Jason Trundy (left) poses with the yellow brick he earned after completing the FBI National Academy’s Yellow Brick Road challenge. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Members of the 273rd session pose with their yellow bricks. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

The 223 members of the 273rd session were broken into five groups. Chief Trundy poses with his group, group 5, at the start of the 10-week program. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A member of the 273rd session cleans a Sept. 11, 2001, memorial at the FBI’s Quantico Virginia campus. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A 9/11 memorial at the FBI’s Quantico, Virginia headquarters. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Chief Trundy sits among classmates at the FBI National Academy (back row, third from right). (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Chief Trundy (closest to camera) competing in a fitness challenge during the second week of the program. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Speakers during week two included Deputy Timothy Whitcomb, who discussed post-traumatic stress disorder. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

FBI Special Agent In Charge Aaron Rouse spoke about the Mandalay Bay shooting that occurred in Las Vegas in 2017. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A keyring exchanged during the event. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A Mongolian police shield was also shared at the event. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Patches from the individual agencies present are formed into the program’s session number. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

A group of speakers addressing the group during the fourth week of the program. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Chief Trundy (left) poses retired Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Police Chief Edward Flynn, who spoke to the group. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

The physical challenge during the fourth week was called the Sandbag Relay. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

Students participate in physical fitness activities. (photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

(photo courtesy of Chief Deputy Trundy)

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.”