The core mission of Diplomatic Security is to provide a safe and secure environment for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. Diplomatic Security is one of several bureaus that report to the Undersecretary for Management within State and contains several directorates, including Diplomatic Security’s Training Directorate (see app. II). To implement U.S. statute, the Diplomatic Security Training Directorate trains or helps train Diplomatic Security’s 1,943 law enforcement agents and investigators, 340 technical security specialist engineers and technicians, 101 couriers, and a growing number of new Security Protective Specialists, as well as other U.S. government personnel, and runs several specialized programs designed to enhance Diplomatic Security’s capabilities. In fiscal year 2010, DSTC conducted 342 sessions of its 61 courses and trained 4,739 students. The training directorate is headed by a senior Foreign Service Officer and has three offices, the Offices of Training and Performance Standards, Mobile Security Deployment (MSD), and Antiterrorism Assistance, which do the following: The Office of Training and Performance Standards’ mission is to train and sustain a security workforce capable of effectively addressing law enforcement and security challenges to support U.S. foreign policy in the global threat environment—now and into the future. The office’s mission has grown along with the expanding mission of Diplomatic Security. The Office of Training and Performance Standards encompasses DSTC and is often referred to as DSTC. The office is the primary provider of Diplomatic Security’s training, and its entire mission falls within the scope of this report; its efforts are the focus of our review. The office also provides personal security training to Diplomatic Security and non-Diplomatic Security personnel posted to the high-threat environments, including the 5-week High Threat Tactical (HTT) course designed for Diplomatic Security special agents and Security Protective Specialists operating in high-threat or hazardous environments, the 3-week Security for Non-traditional Operating Environment (SNOE) course designed for Civilian Response Corps and Provincial Reconstruction Team personnel operating in remote areas, and the 1-week Foreign Affairs Counter Threat (FACT) course designed for all U.S. personnel under Chief of Mission authority at high-threat posts such as Afghanistan, Iraq, or Pakistan. The Office of Mobile Security Deployment’s mission is to provide security training and exercises for overseas posts, enhanced security for overseas posts, and counterassault capability for domestic and overseas protective security details. The first of these missions—to provide training to U.S. government personnel and dependents at posts abroad—falls within the scope of this report. The Office of Antiterrorism Assistance’s mission is to build the counterterrorism capacity of friendly governments, enhance bilateral relationships, and increase respect for human rights. Because of its exclusive training of non-U.S. government personnel, the Office of Antiterrorism Assistance falls outside the scope of this report. Diplomatic Security’s training budget grew steadily from fiscal years 2006 to 2010—increasing from approximately $24 million in fiscal year 2006 to nearly $70 million in fiscal year 2010 (see table 1). During this period, Diplomatic Security’s training budget increased from 1.5 percent to 3 percent of the bureau’s total budget. The Diplomatic Security Training Directorate is responsible for training Diplomatic Security’s over 3,000 direct hires to carry out various security functions (see table 2). The size of Diplomatic Security’s direct-hire workforce has more than doubled since 1998. Recently, Diplomatic Security’s reliance on contractors has grown to fill critical needs in high- threat posts. According to DSTC officials, they also rely on contractors to support course development and serve as instructors in many of their courses. In addition to training Diplomatic Security personnel, the Training Directorate also provides training to non-State personnel supporting embassy security functions such as the Marine Security Guards and Navy Seabees, as well as to personnel from other federal agencies through its high-threat training and information security awareness courses. To ensure the quality and appropriateness of its training, Diplomatic Security primarily adheres to Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation standards, along with other statutory and State standards. In 2005, Diplomatic Security incorporated the FLETA standards into its standard operating procedures, using a course design framework tailored for the organization. To meet the combination of FLETA and other standards, DSTC integrates both formal and informal feedback from evaluations and other sources into its courses. However, DSTC does not have the systems in place to obtain feedback from its entire training population. Diplomatic Security’s training responsibilities are established by a number of statutory standards and State Department policies. The Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986, as codified at section 4802 of title 22 of the United States Code, provided the security authorities for the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State delegated these security responsibilities, including law enforcement training, to Diplomatic Security and granted it authority to establish its own training academy. Diplomatic Security also follows policy guidance and procedures found in State’s Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) and its Foreign Affairs Handbooks, which also establish Diplomatic Security’s Training Directorate. Diplomatic Security is accredited by and relies primarily on the standards of the FLETA process. The FLETA Board was established in 2002 to create and maintain a body of standards to enhance the quality of law enforcement training and to administer an independent accreditation process for federal law enforcement agencies. The voluntary accreditation process provides assurance that every 3 years, the agency carries out a systematic self-assessment to ensure the standards established by the law enforcement community are met; each self-assessment must be verified by FLETA’s external peer reviewers, whose findings are then reviewed by a committee of the FLETA Board. FLETA standards are designed to describe what must be accomplished; however, it is up to each agency to determine how it will meet the standards. Agencies may submit applications to have their basic agent and instructor development courses accredited, and if they obtain accreditation for both courses, they can apply for academy accreditation. In 2010, FLETA revised its standards. (For more details on the FLETA process see app. III.) Beginning in 2005, DSTC established standard operating procedures in order to comply with FLETA and other standards. In 2005, Diplomatic Security began hiring training professionals and created the Instructional Systems Management division to formalize course development, instead of relying solely on the knowledge of experienced personnel and subject matter experts. According to DSTC officials, the formalized process resulted in greater consistency in how courses are developed and taught. Diplomatic Security was the first federal agency to ever receive accreditation through the FLETA process, in 2005, and was reaccredited in 2008. (For more details on DSTC’s accreditation results see app. IV.) DSTC is currently undergoing a new cycle of reaccreditation. DSTC officials expressed confidence that their courses and the academy would be reaccredited. To meet accreditation standards and its training needs, DSTC uses an industry-recognized training framework for course design and development. According to a senior FLETA official, 44 percent of FLETA standards are based on this training framework. The seven-phased DSTC framework is applied to new courses or course revisions (see fig. 1 and app. V for examples of the documents and reports created during the different phases of the framework and hyperlinked to the figure). Throughout the process and at each phase, DSTC involves division chiefs, branch chiefs, subject matter experts, and its instructional staff. At the end of each phase, a report is produced for a DSTC training advisor to approve, before the process progresses to the next phase. The seven phases are Proposal phase: DSTC staff analyzes the request for development or revision to a training course and makes recommendations to senior management on whether to proceed. Analysis phase: DSTC staff examines the audience, identifies job tasks and job performance measures, selects the instructional setting, and validates cost estimates. A task list is developed to guide initial course development, which involves subject matter experts in verifying the job tasks. Design phase: DSTC staff determines the training objectives, lists course prerequisites, identifies needed learning objectives, and establishes the appropriate performance tests. Development phase: DSTC staff develops the appropriate instructional materials, reviews and selects existing course materials, and develops the necessary coursework. Implementation phase: A pilot course is created and taught by an approved instructor to a targeted audience. The pilot course is tested and observed by both subject matter experts and instructional design staff. Evaluation phase: DSTC staff and the students evaluate the effectiveness of the training. DSTC conducts three types of evaluations: 1. tier-1 evaluations of the training and the instructors by the students shortly after taking the course, 2. tier-2 evaluations to check extent of knowledge and skills transfer to the students during the course, and 3. tier-3 evaluations of the students’ ability to apply the training on the job 6 to 12 months after training depending on when the skills are used. According to DSTC officials, tier-1 and tier-3 evaluations are generally made up of survey questions with some short answers, while tier-2 evaluations involve testing students through either a practical or written exam, or both. Revision: Courses go through the revision process at least every 5 years, prompted and guided in part by evaluations and feedback from students, supervisors, and other stakeholders. DSTC applies its training framework to all courses, not just the courses for which it seeks accreditation through the FLETA process.