THE
FBI ACADEMY
A
Pictorial History
05/14/07
It
was 35 years ago this month that today’s
FBI Academy—which trains not only Bureau
personnel but also law enforcement professionals
from around the globe—opened its doors
on a sprawling 385-acre campus carved out
of the Quantico Marine Corps base in rural
Virginia.
To mark the occasion, we thought you’d
enjoy a walk through our past
visually tracing the evolution of the Academy over the years.
We begin our story at a train station in
Kansas City…
 |
| The
aftermath of the Kansas City Massacre. |
FBI
agents take target practice with a
Thompson
machine gun. |
In the Beginning…
…How’d
we end up at Quantico? It began with the
so-called Kansas
City massacre.” In June 1933,
three police officers and one Bureau agent
escorting
a prisoner through a Missouri train station
were killed when “Pretty Boy” Floyd
and other criminals opened fire. Following
the public outcry, FBI agents were given
the authority to make arrests and to carry
weapons for the first time.
… But where to learn marksmanship and take target practice? We needed a
safe, out of the way place.
… And we found one, thanks to the Marine Corps, which in 1934 let us start
using the firing ranges on its base in Quantico, Virginia, about 35 miles southwest
of the nation’s capital. We’ve been there ever since.
 |
Our
agents get in shape on the roof of
the Justice Department building in
D.C. |
|
First
graduates of the “FBI
Police Training School,” July 1935. |
|
Training Takes Off
… Meanwhile,
the Bureau was moving into the training business.
… In the early 20s we’d begun formal training for agents; our first
organized agent school was launched in 1929 in D.C. It included classroom training,
practical exercises in fingerprinting and evidence collection, and even physical
instruction on the rooftop of the Justice Department building.
… In line with the recommendations of a national commission on the need
for more standardized police training, in 1935 we launched a “Police Training
School,” the forerunner of today’s National
Academy program. The high-level
police professionals learned investigative and scientific techniques, studied
management principles, did practical exercises, and got firearms training at
the gun range at Quantico. Many of the graduates opened training classes back
home to share what they’d learned.
 |
FBI
Academy building circa 1940. |
The
dorm rooms at the Academy. |
The Academy’s First Home
… “If
you build it, they will come…” Precisely
our thinking by the late 1930s. The gun ranges
used by the Marines weren’t meeting
our more specialized law enforcement needs.
And we needed a central place to instruct
and house all the police officers and special
agents we were now training.
… Result: the Marine Corps allowed us to construct our own firing range
and, in 1940, our first classroom building on the main section of the base.
The FBI Academy was born.
… Over the next two decades, we added a new wing, a basement, more dining
room and kitchen space, and an elevator to the original building. But it still
wasn’t enough. Eight people shared a single dorm room.
The lack of classroom space limited the size of training classes. The firing
range was a bumpy bus ride away. We needed the facilities to match our vision
for world-class training.
… In 1965, we got approval to build a brand new complex at Quantico. Construction
began in 1969. A new home was just around the corner…
 |
|
The new FBI Academy
|
Classroom
in the new Academy. |
A New Era for FBI Training
… On
May 7, 1972, the new, expanded, and modernized
FBI Academy was opened.
… Talk about a major upgrade: The complex included more than two dozen
classrooms, eight conference rooms, twin seven-story dormitories, a 1,000-seat
auditorium, a dining hall, a full-sized gym and swimming pool, a fully equipped
library, and a new firing range. Not to mention much-needed enhancements like
specialized classrooms for forensic science training, four identification labs,
more than a dozen darkrooms, and a mock-city classroom and crime scene room for
practical exercises.
… The ample facilities enabled National Academy classes to expand 10-fold,
to more than 200 students per session, including more from overseas.
 |
Our
Hostage Rescue Team in a simulated exercise
at Quantico. |
The new FBI
Laboratory. |
New Directions, New Neighbors
… Since
1972, the Academy has continued to grow and
evolve, both in terms of its training and
its facilities. A few examples:
… In 1976, we created the National Executive Institute for the heads of
the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies. More leadership training
programs have followed.
… In 1987 we built a mock training town on campus called “Hogan’s
Alley,” which provides a realistic training ground for agents.
… Also joining the Academy complex in the 80s and 90s were our Engineering
Research Facility and our Critical Incident
Response Group, which includes our Hostage Rescue Team and
behavioral scientists.
… In 2002, we also launched the College of Analytical Studies—now
called the Center for Intelligence Training—to develop and train our cadre
of intelligence analysts.
… Our newest building on the block: the FBI Laboratory. In 2003, we opened
our first ever standalone Lab building, a state-of-the-art facility
complete with building-sized shock absorbers to handle vibrations from Marine
munitions blasts.
 |
FBI
students in the classroom. |
Stretching
exercises at Quantico. |
Into the Future…
… It’s not called the “West
of Point of Law Enforcement” for nothing.
The FBI Academy continues to look towards the future with new programs designed
to meet the evolving needs of our workforce and our national and international
partners.
… Stay tuned for the continuing story…
Want to work for the FBI and be trained
at the Academy? Then visit our FBI Jobs website.
