Originally Posted by
HSVTSO Dean
why were our BDOs gone for seven days, then came back for their three days of OJT? And this might be more like a no-brainer than anything, but I'll assume you know a definitive answer -- can/does/how often do the airport's local FSD assign additional training to the BDOs not required by the baseline?
The 10-12 hours part fits what I was told, but our BDOs are going to be going for some kind of special training with the FBI to the tune of 100+ hours. Is that nationwide with the program, or just something our own FSD wants done, and approved the funding for?
Unfortunately, any answer I could offer would be, at best, an educated guess. Although the BDO program has been around for a while, widespread hiring and implementation across the country is fairly recent. They have been doing some experimentation with the training program, and at my airport we have been told to expect a bunch of shiny new training coming soon. I do not, however, have any knowledge about what the training is or when we will actually receive it.
BDOs have nationally mandated recurrent training, just like TSOs. It is just a different set of courses to reflect the different job duties. Locally, we can be assigned additional training, although this content varies according to the FSD and management priorities. We are strongly encouraged to seek additional training and education opportunities. Currently, I am reading an excellent sociological study of suicide terrorist campaigns.