Message from the Training Directorate
With immense pride and gratitude, I present the Security Training (ST) directorate Annual Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. This report is more than a showcase of our achievements; it's a celebration of our journey, growth, and steadfast commitment to excellence. Our collective efforts have not only strengthened the bonds within Security Training but have also propelled us closer to achieving our strategic goals.
Despite the challenges of a rapidly changing security and educational landscape, our determination ensured that we not only met but exceeded our goals in support of the larger DCSA mission. The passion, hard work, and unwavering commitment of every member of the Security Training team have been instrumental in our achievements.
Security Training's journey has been influenced by a dynamic array of factors, including an ever-evolving landscape of security threats, significant developments in training methodologies, new operational requirements, the advent of emerging technologies, and the ongoing evolution of DCSA. These factors have not only shaped our strategic direction but also reinforced our commitment to advancing our mission with innovative solutions and dedicated service. In line with these influences, ST has led technological innovation by fostering collaboration with strategic partners, streamlining our development processes, and enhancing our capabilities. Our response to the dynamic security landscape and educational requirements has enabled us to develop advanced training modules, expand our outreach, and enhance curriculum and certification benchmarks.
In 2023, we embarked on initiatives that further attest to our dedication to excellence and solidified our commitment to elevating security through vigilance and innovation. Our work this year resonates deeply with our mission to lead and innovate in security training.
Looking ahead to 2024, our alignment with DCSA's core values - commitment to our mission, passion for service, unwavering integrity, drive to innovate, and invested in people - remains at the heart of all our endeavors. Our focus will be on expanding our research initiatives, further enhancing our training methodologies, and diving deeper into various training domains, such as cybersecurity and counterintelligence. With the vision of the DCSA Security Academy on the horizon, we are poised to redefine security training for the future. Because of the talent, dedication, and collective spirit of our team, I am confident we will achieve our ambitious goals.
Thank you for your relentless dedication, unwavering support, and for making ST a beacon of excellence. Let's embrace the future with the same vigor and passion, ensuring that Security Training continues to set the standard for security education.
Who We Are - DCSA Security Training
Since its establishment in 2021, the Security Training directorate has been pivotal in advancing the proficiency of security professionals across the Defense Security Enterprise and other federal organizations. Our goal is to mitigate risks in support of national security through comprehensive training, education, certification, and research.
To be successful, we must have operational agility to rapidly respond to the needs of the Defense Security Enterprise and develop and deliver curricula that build tangible capabilities and close knowledge gaps. The activities of our customers span a broad spectrum of security areas, including credibility assessment, industrial security, information security, personnel security, physical security, special access programs, and insider threat.
We must leverage technology to improve the substance and accessibility of our materials, ensuring customers receive rapid and timely delivery of critical information. A vital component of this will be using technology to provide innovative training techniques and expand our partnerships into non-traditional areas.
Security Training plays a dual role in enhancing security capabilities: internally, by empowering DCSA's workforce, and externally, by offering specialized training and education to security professionals in various federal sectors. Our operational agility enables us to swiftly adapt to the Defense Security Enterprise's evolving needs, creating and implementing curricula that build tangible capabilities and close knowledge gaps.
Security Training was formed by bringing together three centers that now provide security-related training to DCSA personnel and other government personnel working in security-focused positions: the Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE), the National Training Center (NTC), and the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA). When DCSA was established in October 2019, NTC moved into this newly formed agency. Two years later, NCCA joined DCSA, NTC joined CDSE as its Background Investigations (Bl) Training Division, and Security Training was established as an organization unifying CDSE and NCCA.
Security Training Strategic Plan 2023-2028
The DCSA Security Training FY2023-2028 Strategic Plan was initially published in October 2023 and is continuously revisited and updated to ensure alignment with agency-level and stakeholders needs. The plan emphasizes our unwavering dedication to our mission of safeguarding the nation's assets and interests. It reflects our commitment to the vision of a more secure future, driven by excellence in security training and education.
In FY23, Security Training embarked on a transformative journey to address pressing operational challenges, bolster performance, and elevate customer experiences. As we reflect upon the accomplishments, Security Training looks to enhance our operations and further accomplish our objectives as a cohesive directorate in pursuit of our mission and vision.
Strategic Foresight
The five-year plan was meticulously designed to meet the evolving demands of a dynamic security landscape. Our world is witnessing a notable shift, transitioning from the global war on terror to an era defined by increased competition with nation-state powers. Our focus has broadened to encompass critical domains such as cybersecurity, supply chain security, and insider threats. This shift demands proactive preparedness and a more holistic approach to security. The training landscape, too, has evolved, embracing self-service, on-demand, and technology-driven learning methodologies.
To realize our vision of a proactive, innovative, and recognized organization, we have identified four strategic objectives:
CDSE FY23 Overview
To enhance collaboration with the DOD and industry sectors, CDSE conducted three virtual conferences during the fiscal year. These conferences achieved record attendance, demonstrating the effectiveness of CDSE's strategy for virtual engagement. A central theme of these events was fostering collaboration with DCSA, DOD, and Cleared Industry. This collaboration was achieved through steering committees for conferences, co-hosting webinars, and other virtual events, participating in countless working groups through the federal government and industry and keeping abreast of stakeholder needs.
Security Training in the Year Ahead
In FY24, Security Training is taking proactive steps to implement and establish the DCSA Security Academy, a pivotal initiative aimed at refining and concentrating the DCSA security professional training efforts. Security Training will look to focus its efforts on developing role-based learning pathways, expanding out reach of products and services, and leveraging our training systems to improve access and user experience. Security Training will prioritize the creation and implementation of standardized and innovative security training, emphasize the integration of all security training entities to operate as a collective organization.
There are several ongoing projects for FY24 to further progress Security Training towards achieving its objectives, including seeking accreditation for the delivery of Baccalaureate certificates and degree granting; the Security Professional Education Development (SPēD) Program, moving to a new content management system (CMS); enhancements to certification programs; and the increase of VILT and ILT offerings.
Security Training will focus efforts to provide and reinforce premier training and expert oversight support to the federal polygraph community by piloting and finalizing its hybrid PDD course. The continues collaboration of CDSE and NCCA along with the emerging DCSA Security Academy is vital to Security Training successfully achieving its strategic objectives and the most critical goal of protecting national security.