After a new agent candidate is hired, he or she begins a nearly nine-month training program that includes the Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) (pronounced flet-see) in Glynco, Georgia; a Basic Special Agent Course at the Diplomatic Security Training Center, and courses at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in Arlington, Virginia. After completion of all initial training, agents are required to sign up for and pass quarterly re-qualifications on their duty weapons, which include the Sig Sauer P229R, Colt Sub Machine Gun, the M4 assault rifle, and Remington 870 shotgun. A new training facility that will consolidate DS' far-flung training venues is currently under development, but currently agent's are trained at DSs' "interim training facility" (ITF) in Winchester, VA. A new special agent is usually assigned to a domestic field office for two to three years before taking on an overseas assignment, although an agent can expect to be sent on frequent temporary duty assignments overseas even when assigned to a domestic post. However, agents may be called overseas much earlier depending on the needs of DS. As members of the Foreign Service, agents are expected to spend most of their career living and working overseas, often in hazardous environments or less developed countries throughout the world.
Basic Special Agent Course (BSAC) (including FLETC): 9 months
Basic Regional Security Office Course (RSO School): 3 months
High Threat Operations Course (HTOC): 12 weeks (Prerequisite for assignment to countries with security concerns that are "high threat" to US personnel).
Language Training: 2–12 months per language
Basic Field Firearms Officer Course (BFFOC): 2 weeks
High Risk Environment Firearms Course(HREFC): 3 days