Photo Credit: Greg Leyva

CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner talks with Border Patrol Academy students during lunch in the facility’s new cafeteria.

"This dedication is a milestone in the history of CBP and is the culmination of the hard work and commitment of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and the CBP Offices of Training and Development and Border Patrol."
- CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner

In the past, Border Patrol agents were trained in several different locations in Texas, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. FLETC acquired the former Artesia Christian College’s 2,540-acre campus in 1989 and turned it into a law enforcement training center for the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and numerous other federal law enforcement agencies, including advanced and instructor training for the Border Patrol.

Now consolidated into one location, the new CBP Border Patrol Academy provides Border Patrol basic training as well as advanced or specialized training needs for the more than 11,000 Border Patrol agents. “The reality is that we need to do our traditional mission even better—and that is the ability to detect people coming across our border unlawfully—to make sure we are in a position to prevent potential terrorist operatives from entering the country,” Commissioner Bonner said during the dedication ceremony. "The consolidation of training and the creation of a state-of-the-art facility will help to ensure that every Border Patrol agent has the skills, knowledge, and training to carry out our critical homeland security mission."

“Combining all of our tested methodologies and best practices under one roof allows us to more effectively and efficiently provide a training environment that enables our agents to reach that state of readiness, that state of professionalism their fellow agents can depend on in the field and, more importantly, the American people can depend on at home,” said Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar.

All new Border Patrol agents must complete the rigorous 19-week basic training course. It includes courses in federal immigration and nationality laws, anti-drug laws, criminal law and statutory authority, behavioral science, intensive Spanish language training, Border Patrol operations, care and use of firearms, physical training, self-defense, arrest techniques, and pursuit driving. In keeping with CBP’s priority mission, the Academy provides world-class anti-terrorism training, including radiation detection, non-intrusive inspection, and advanced Border Patrol training.

Since 2001, $30 million in improvements have been made to the facility, ranging from new security to a new 286-bed dormitory and cafeteria. There are also plans for future enhancements such as an aquatic center, expansion of physical training facilities, an additional 150-bed dormitory, and a new language arts building.

The southeastern New Mexico desert location provides the CBP Border Patrol Academy with a distinct advantage. It is an ideal "learning laboratory," providing an environment similar to the southwest border, where many Border Patrol agents are stationed. At the Artesia facility new agents can “train in an environment that’s realistic, that’s relevant to where most Border Patrol agents are assigned and stationed,” said Commissioner Bonner. Trainees can see firsthand how to “cut sign,” the term for tracking, and how border check points operate.

The first class of Border Patrol agent recruits, Class 583, reported to Artesia on October 20, 2004. Commissioner Bonner welcomed the aspiring agents and said they were “training to become modern-day centurions, charged with guarding our country from all those who seek to harm us or violate our laws, whether they’re international terrorists or drug smugglers, illegal entrants or other criminals who intend to break our nation’s laws or who are likely to commit crimes in our country.”

Often operating in very remote locations without immediate support, Border Patrol agents protect the 6,000-plus miles of international boundary between the ports of entry with Mexico and Canada. Last year, Border Patrol agents arrested more than 1.2 million people attempting to enter the United States illegally and seized 1,355,397.90 pounds of illegal narcotics.