RICHMOND, VIRGINIA — U.S. federal agents are always on high alert preparing to keep Americans safe, and in a rural town in Virginia there is a high-end state department training facility where real-world problems are recreated to help protect national security.
Julie Cabus, who oversees all of the training programs for the U.S. State Department, took our Washington bureau reporter Blair Miller took us inside the facility for rare access to different scenarios they could face, and how this training saves countless lives.
Cabus showed Miller a facility built to look like any sort of town or village overseas that agents could encounter in the course of their diplomacy.
“We are one of a kind in that specifically purpose built, as mentioned earlier, for the foreign affairs community for the Department of State,” said Cabus.
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Agents showed Miller what types of training they do inside as well. Agents simulate situations like raids, threats, and other dangers, preparing to go from room to room.
Scott McGrath oversees the trainings and said the agents are learning to handle a range of issues.
“They have to be a jack of all trades; they’ve got to know a lot of different hard skills, you know, driving, shooting, room entry tactics, things like this, and soft skills, how to negotiate,” McGrath said.
McGrath said every agent has a separate job and they all come together to accomplish their common mission.
Hundreds of agents come through the facility every year.
>> At 10 p.m., Washington bureau reporter Blair Miller takes us through federal agent training at a high-tech facility to help protect the nation’s security. Watch how Miller even plays a role in the training as agents are tasked to pull him from a room and protect him.
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