He's not alone. Every year, Customs employees who may spend the majority of their time focused on front-line duties as inspectors, special agents, import specialists, and EEO officers take on the additional responsibilities of trainers - teaching, training, and reminding colleagues in practical ways that it is never too late to learn new skills or upgrade old ones.

The Office of Training and Development knows just how valuable good "trainers" are to Customs, and the new Professional Trainer Development Program we're creating is our way of making sure that the men and women in charge of keeping their coworkers' skills sharp also get the support they need. Training the trainer may not be a new idea, but for Customs, the commitment signals an important insight - keeping trainers' skills and enthusiasm high pays off, not just for the employees whose job proficiencies they may refresh, but for the Customs Service itself. Based on an internally designed competency model, the Professional Trainer Development Program represents one of the agency's newest and smartest investments, an investment we believe will pay off in at least three important ways:

Instructional Expertise - will provide the instructors with the tools necessary to develop, design, and deliver critical training.

Personal Effectiveness - will generate new learning opportunities, allow instructors to enhance their own professional skills and abilities, stress teamwork, and information sharing.

Leadership - will develop skills in our instructors that capitalize on the coaching and mentoring of students, the recruitment of new instructors, planning for the future, and taking responsibility for the development of the program.

The Professional Trainer Development Program includes the following components:

Train the Trainer Modules - designed to aid subject matter experts occasionally utilized as trainers. The purpose of these modules is to ensure the highest instructional quality of field delivered courses. These modules have flexibility in delivery since they're designed to be "plugged into" train-the-trainer sessions for specific courses.

Skill Development Course -- designed to provide skill-based training across a wide continuum of training and instructional systems design competencies. Primary attention will be focused on new instructors/course developers located at the various Customs Service training facilities.

Continuing Education Workshops and Resources - designed for the more experienced trainers. The emphasis will be on enhancing current skills and sharing trends and resources.

The development of a Customs-wide instructor database is another idea designed to add value to the program. A database of accomplished instructors can quickly guide Customs managers and supervisors in search of specialized trainers with specialized skills to the names and locations of available instructors. Conversely, managers and supervisors at specific locations can query the same database for names and availability of trainers close at hand.

What better forum could we create to advertise "our best and brightest"?

The Professional Trainer Development Program empowers them to educate us, provides them with the best tools to do the job, and advertises our confidence in them via the Instructor Database. A win-win situation for everyone involved, and another clear victory for an organization smart enough to invest in the best.