5/2/2011 – Defense Security Service Holds Security Fundamentals Professional Certification Conferral Ceremony
During a conferral ceremony on April 29, 2011, Department of Defense (DoD) security professionals received a Security Fundamentals Professional Certification (SFPC), which is a major milestone in the professionalism of the DoD security workforce. The ceremony, hosted by the Defense Security Service (DSS), was held at 10 a.m. in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, Va.
The certifications were presented to the employees for completing the first part of the Security Professional Education Development Program, or SPēD.
SPēD provides security professionals with a certification that is recognized and transferable throughout the DoD. The SPēD program is part of the DoD initiative to professionalize the security workforce. Several critical obstacles were overcome in developing SPēD to include drafting and approval of DoD Instruction 3305.13, DoD Security Training, and DoD Manual 3305.13-M, DoD Security Accreditation and Certification. SPēD is not merely a certification program, but a holistic approach to professionalizing the security community through training, education, career path plans, continuing education through seminars and conferences, and most notably through certifications.
The conferral ceremony recognized some of the first in DoD to achieve the Security Fundamentals Professional Certification. These 24 individuals participated in the Security Fundamentals Professional Certification beta assessment in the fall of 2010 and earned passing scores. They are commended for volunteering their efforts and for blazing the trail for professionalism within the DoD security community.
The ceremony recognized individuals from DSS; DoD Office of Inspector General; Defense Threat Reduction Agency; National Geo-Spatial Agency; Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; OSD, General Counsel of the Department of Defense; Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation; Pentagon Force Protection Agency; United States Air Force; and Washington Headquarters Services.