Flea-Tech: Violence Rules the Day

First of all, don't call it Flea Tech; they hate that and it isn't a very respectful moniker for the Federal Law Enforecement Training Center (FLETC). We spent the day with our friend, Federal Agent Sharkmon. That still isn't his real name; I have seen his ID, but I don't want to compromise his identity as an agent, so he is Agent Sharkmon.
The very first thing we had to do was to report to the weapons clearing area. We weren't carrying any, and Sharkmon has a special 'red gun' that it isn't necessary to clear. In fact, it isn't a real gun, but all of the trainees have to carry it at all times. A real gun and the right to carry it as a federal agent have to be earned. Our tour started with our providing personal information which we are sure will go into our FBI files, or will be used to start new files on us. Who am I kidding? Of course we already have files!
One of the first things our guide told us about is the cardinal rule of law enforcement: Technique is good, but violence rules the day.

It is kind of one upmanship in aggression. While you have to know the time tested techniques when dealing with a ne'er do well, sometimes retaliation in spades is your best defense. I'm serious! But we still laugh like hyenas when we hear it.
We drove down streets with names like Gunpowder, Firearms, Bunker Lane and Legislative Drive to see firing ranges-- a lot of them, with their jagged rooflines and smokestacks designed for maximum sound proofing and venting of noxious fumes. We also saw buses, trains, automobiles, and a Fed Ex plane, all de-comissioned and put into service as training vehicles for all manner of federal force activities, from anti-terrorism scenarios to customs inspections and border patrol. In some cases these are the same. It was especially interesting to see the facilities for training border patrol agents because I have never gone from one country to another by car. I could see how America must look to millions who come the US. America isn't so much a shining paradise on the other side of a gate as it is a shining gate through which not all may pass to a possible land of milk and honey.
We had a great time touring the training center because Lee is such fun company. He has a great sense of humor and is eager to share what he knows (and he knows some cool stuff). However, the fact that we were entertained by our tour guide doesn't in the least diminish the seriousness of what goes on here. The men and women who sign on to serve their country this way take their jobs very seriously, and they train hard, very hard physically and mentally to be good at what they do. And in the end, as the monument to fallen officers attests, they barter their lives in complete faith that they are making this a better place for all of us.
As Winston Churchill said, "We sleep safe knowing there are rough men ready to visit violence in the night on a moment's notice."