Filled with a rich history, the Ohio Chapter of the FBI National Academy is a premier association that promotes continued educational and networking opportunities for law enforcement command officers. The FBI’s National Academy program provides police supervisors a comprehensive instruction that has a long history of service to law enforcement officers in the United States and from around the world.
Located at the FBI Academy in Quantico Virginia, the National Academy provides an experience to law enforcement officers that cannot be obtained anywhere else on the globe. The National Academy program is filed with a strong history that has extended for decades. “During December of 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt convened in Washington D.C., a National Crime Conference. Throughout the 1930’s, criminal gangs roamed the countryside robbing and killing with impunity.”
Figures like John Dillinger and “Ma” Barker loomed like black clouds over the country and at that time local law enforcement could not dispel them. The National Crime Conference raised the issue of police professionalism and specifically targeted small police departments for increased training in order to meet the treat posed by the gangs of the time.”
Mr. J. Edgar Hoover created the National Academy in response to the President’s conference. Director Hoover said in 1934. “The school’s principle objective is to raise the level of police professionalism nationwide by training local police officers”.
In July of 1935, just seven months after the President’s conference, the FBI’s National Academy program started when “Special Agent Hugh Clegg greeted a class of eager police officers for the 1st Session of what was then called, the FBI National Police Training School.” The National Academy classes were held in the Department of Justice building in Washington D.C.
“Mr. Hoover promised Americans that the FBI National Academy would be responsive to its changing needs and would raise the profession of law enforcement by training police officers who, in turn, could train members of their own departments.” For over eight decades the FBI has remained committed to the objective to assist law enforcement through the National Academy program.
From 1935 to 1972, during the first 37 years of the National Academy, there were:
- 14,000 graduates
- 89 National Academy Sessions
- 14 U.S. Attorney Generals
- Six presidents (Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon)
- Three wars, (WWII, Korean, and Vietnam) and
- One director of the FBI, Mr. Hoover.
On May 2, 1972, Mr. Hoover passed away. He never saw the National Academy students walk the halls of the current FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The 90th Session of the National Academy would be the first to attend Quantico just a month after the Director’s death.
Four times a year over 250 law enforcement officers from around the world, including 8 to 10 from Ohio are joined together in the halls of the FBI Academy at Quantico. The National Academy continues to be the flagship of professional law enforcement education and career development as it has since 1935.
The 10-weeks of training covers five core areas: Constitutional Law, Behavioral Sciences, Administration, Criminal Investigation, and Physical Fitness. Primarily, FBI Agents holding advanced degrees teach the classes in the NA program. Furthermore, the classes are accredited with the University of Virginia. Today, there are more than 40,000 National Academy graduates from around the world.
When you graduate from the National Academy, your association with the NA doesn’t end. Each state has its own Association to continue the training and networking that started in Quantico. In the history of the NA, Ohio has sent nearly 1000 officers from over 230 agencies. From Sandusky to Portsmouth, from Greenville to St Clairsville, National Academy graduates are in every part of the great state of Ohio.
The purpose of the Ohio NA chapter is to continue to provide the best possible training to our members and to all law enforcement throughout Ohio. It is exemplary training that continues after graduation that brings credit to the profession of law enforcement and to the National Academy.
The Ohio Chapter was first organized February 26, 1947. At the first meeting, 30 NA members and the SAC’s from Cincinnati and Cleveland were present. From those early days of lunch meetings, the Ohio Chapter has moved to providing continued education several times per year in different formats:
1- The spring luncheon,
3- The annual Business Meeting and Training *, and
4- The annual Fall Retrainer held in different locations around the great state of Ohio.
*Note: For many years the NA’s annual summer Business Meeting and Training were conducted at a private facility known as “The Wigwam”. The Wigwam was originally opened and dedicated in 1928 as a private gathering facility. Sometime in the early 1950’s, the FBI and NA were invited to use the Wigwam for their summer business meeting and training. This tradition continued for over 60 years until the company owners elected to decommission the Wigwam and the facility was repurpose as a community center for the local township..
Since its creation, the Ohio Chapter has continued to support law enforcement executives around the state with the challenge to provide the best in public service and protection. The National Academy tradition of Knowledge * Courage * Integrity continues today in the members of the Ohio Chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates .
The Ohio Chapter has hosted twice, the FBI National Academy’s “National” Retrainer. 
The yearly event is rotated around the county and hosted by such cities as Denver, San Antonio, and Kansas City. The first Ohio hosted event was in 1998 and held in Columbus. The second event was in 2022 and held in Cleveland. In both events, years of planning took place that involved the entire Ohio NA Board from each decade and a large number of NA volunteers. Both events attracted thousands of NA grads and their families to Ohio.
Credits for the original research material and quoted information go to:
Chief Richard Amiott (Ret) of the 90th Session, Past President of the Ohio Chapter (1979) and National FBINAA Historian (Richard passed on May 1, 2017); and
Deputy Chief Tony Lanata of the 132nd Session and Past President of the Ohio Chapter (1995 & 1996).
Additional updates provided by Chief Dwight “Dee” Holcomb (Ret) of the 163rd Session and Past President of the Ohio Chapter (2001)