For six years now, teams within the FAA Academy have collaborated with members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency to provide exclusive world class training to help educate our Front Line Defenders of our Nation’s borders, the U.S Border Patrol (USBP) agents on the use of Mobile Video Surveillance System (MVSS) Operations. Several USBP agents have been designated as train-the-trainer instructors to help educate those agents working in the field.

The Mobile Video Surveillance System (MVSS) is comprised of a truck-mounted, retractable mast where a suite of sensors is used for day and nighttime surveillance operations. USBP agents are taught how to operate this highly advanced, complex technology in a safe and efficient manner.

In the spring of 2019, a designated training team from the FAA Academy developed a 2-day MVSS instructor-led course, which included an additional field operations lab to train USBP agents. The training involved five lecture-based lessons, and five lab exercises in which the students interacted with the actual MVSS while accompanied by an instructor.

With much emphasis given to protecting our nation’s borders, the USBP received a fleet of new vehicles just this past month. Before these vehicles could be deployed to conduct surveillance, the USBP agents required initial operational training. The goal was to train as many USBP agents as soon as possible so that agents and vehicles could be deployed in a timely manner. To add to the complexity of the timing, the coronavirus (COVID-19) impacted all global interests including the federal workforce. In responding to this pandemic:

• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidelines for all Americans to maintain a distance of at least six feet from other people and to avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people.
• The FAA restricted employees from undertaking any non-essential travel, including any travel needed for training.

Prior to issuance of a travel restriction, the FAA had scheduled three instructors for travel to deliver initial MVSS Operational Training to nearly two dozen USBP students. The effort to deliver mission critical training during a nation-wide travel ban (while adhering to CDC guidelines) seemed almost unachievable. Teams from the FAA Academy and CBP discussed possible training alternatives without having to travel.

After much deliberation, the most viable solution was for the CBP to get two of their previously trained Border Patrol agents to the location where the new vehicles were delivered. Then, an FAA instructor could live-stream training to students using a video conferencing tool, while the on-site USBP instructors would facilitate the training labs in person. Classes were divided into two groups, with one group receiving a video-based lecture, while the other group simultaneously completed a hands-on lab. Jim Doskow, Director of the FAA Academy comments, "I am very proud of the Academy team’s ability to pivot from a face-to-face delivery format to this virtual delivery via Zoom in one week’s time. They showed tremendous flexibility and a willingness to embrace maverick values to ensure USBP agents were trained on these MVSS trucks to support their mission."

Using this creative strategy, the FAA Academy and CBP were able to train nearly two-dozen agents to operate the MVSS in just three days. Their work complied with the CDC’s guidelines for social distancing, and neither group experienced problems with setting up or using the technologies. Students and instructors alike felt that using the video-conferencing tool was an effective format for training delivery.

"Technology is an integral part of our border security mission, and proved to be an equally important solution to ensure that the mission didn’t suffer due to the restrictions because of COVID-19," said Chad Myers, CBP Branch Chief for System Support Services for the Office of Acquisition.

The benefits of using these creative solutions reinforced:

• Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on all training support
• Allowing for more training with fewer instructors
• Reducing travel costs without degrading quality of instruction
• Ability to serve more constituents with little to no expansion in training staff

Virtual teams are quickly becoming a way of life, as demonstrated by the members of the FAA Academy and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Being flexible and engaging in interdependent tasks are quick ways to align successful virtual teams. These federal agencies showcase how to engage in technological investments that facilitate, secure and reduce costs, validating the value of the end product – all the while, providing mission critical services. Perhaps it is during crises (such as our current situation), when we begin to observe the true innovators among us.