AST Digital Magazine August 2017 Digital-Aug | Page 62

Volume 15
August 2017 Edition
to get your creds and your badge,” says Kellie
Holland.
“You’ve finally reached your dream of becoming
a special agent of the FBI.”
A new agent is pepper sprayed during training at the FBI
Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
It’s a crisp morning in January as hundreds of
people file into the auditorium at the Academy.
Friends and family members—who have made
their own sacrifices over the past five months,
with plenty more to come—take their seats and
wait in anticipation for their loved ones to officially
become special agents.
Like the rest of her classmates, Liz couldn’t take
her eyes off the shimmering gold FBI badge and
credentials she now held in her hands.
She made it. Now she will head to her first field
office in Chicago, where her career as a special
agent begins.
“I’m really excited to get things started. I feel like
I’m going into a big family right away,” said Liz.
“I’ve already been in contact with my squad
mates, and I feel prepared for this next transi-
tion. It already feels like an extension of the train-
ing I’ve received at Quantico.”
After being sworn in, Liz makes her way to the
wings of the auditorium with the rest of her class-
mates.
New Agent Holds Badge at FBI Academy Graduation
(The graduation ceremony at the FBI Academy marks the cul-
mination of 20 weeks of hard work and sacrifice, when new
agent trainees become special agents of the FBI. Courtesy of
the FBI and YouTube)
Clad in suits, they’re all now standing in line,
waiting excitedly for their turn to go on stage and
complete their journey at the Academy.
“The graduation is a moment you’ll never forget—
standing up there, raising your right hand, repeat-
ing the oath, and then walking across the stage
Following the graduation ceremony, before new
agents can pack up their belongings and head
out to their new field offices, there’s just one final
item to complete: a stop by the weapons vault
to pick up their very own FBI-issued pistol and
ammunition.
It’s a fitting final lesson on the seriousness and
importance of their coming work—protecting
lives, putting dangerous criminals and terrorists
behind bars, and safeguarding the nation.
The Learning Never Ends
While the graduation ceremony serves as the
culminating event for the new agents who have
spent countless hours preparing to serve the
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