Industry Interview: International Training Inc. Virginia

Q: Tell us something about ITI.

A: International Training Inc., better known by its moniker ITI, celebrates its second year in operation this year. The company was originally conceived and put into operation by two retired Air Force OSI officers who saw a serious need for advanced security training within the United States. Our founders Jerry Hoffman and Gerry Smith recognized decades ago that the increasing threat from terrorist organizations would lead to the need for training that was not commonly offered by other companies or even within the U.S. department level agencies at the time. Their commitment, which remains the driving force with ITI, was to provide the most realistic training available. Although both are now retired, their legacy is a company that has achieved their original vision for a training company dedicated to serving the nation.

ITI instructors are dedicated professionals delivering exemplary training services every day to students from the special operations and intelligence communities of U.S. agencies. The ITI cadre is a diverse group of people coming to ITI from all the military services, special operations forces and law enforcement. Adding to their experiences, ITI continues a professional development program to increase and maintain their skill levels. A very good example is the driving skills instructor cadre at the company. This small group of instructors have attended driving schools such as Bavarian Motor Works, Bill Scott Raceway, Team O’Neill Rally Course, FLETC Evasive Driving Course, U.S. Army antiterrorism evasive driving course, French Armed Force Commando School and the U.S. Army Europe antiterrorism evasive driving course, and the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services EVOC. It is a highly skilled and experienced group that guides thousands of students through 40,000 miles of driver training each year.

Q: Describe ITI’s two training venues.

A: Two training facilities are operated by ITI. The primary facility is collocated with the headquarters at West Point, Va., near Williamsburg. The second facility is located south of San Antonio, Texas, along I-35. Both facilities include driving courses, off-road courses, ranges and classrooms to support the training of 2,000-3,000 students each year.

Q: Which DoD components do you support with training services?

A: The primary customers of ITI are the many agencies of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. DoD utilizes our training services for deployment training of its Special Operations Forces and a variety of intelligence agencies and units. The Department of Homeland Security receives mobile training across the United States relative to critical infrastructure and those who would be responsible for protecting these areas. This is an advantage to both agencies since it is less expensive than maintaining the training facilities, all the supporting structure and the necessary full-time cadre.

Q: What is the future of the contracted training business given the ongoing reduction of forces in Iraq and an eventual reduction of forces in Afghanistan?

A: The training services industry has grown tremendously since 1989, when ITI was established, with most of the growth occurring in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Today, hundreds of companies offer training services to support deploying personnel with a rather tightly focused effort relative to Iraq and Afghanistan. With the reduction of end strength in these two theaters and the eventual withdrawal in large part from the region, competition will increase dramatically between the many existing companies. Those who can remain relevant, offer diverse training programs and maintain very high quality in delivery will continue very fine operations.

Q: What is the single major advantage for the U.S. government when it uses external contracted training?

A: The growing advantage to the U.S. government will be an increasingly high quality training industry available at increasingly competitive pricing. Many contracts requiring pre-deployment training may shrink as the shift in strategy to have allies, friends and surrogates take on more of the effort occurs. In this environment however, contracts requiring mobile training teams to deploy and conduct training abroad may increase as the U.S. government offers such training to improve the security posture of those cooperating over the long term.

Q: Describe the training course and facility enhancements the training audiences may see at your facilities through the end of this year.

A: To cope with this environment, ITI is attempting to diversify its curriculum in areas such as more advanced medical and driving programs and through partnerships with small businesses who offer specific skills that can be integrated into current ITI training. The major improvement this year would be our medical program, which includes advanced lifesaving techniques brought to our students by paramedics and in cooperation with a business partner of ITI.

While attempting to remain on the smaller side (currently 48 full-time employees) of the industry, ITI prides itself on offering a quality service within a specific niche in security training. Explosive growth will not serve the company well, but diversification should maintain our relevance to the needs of our clients. ITI will continue into the next 20 years with the same dedication and emphasis on quality that was established at the beginning of the company in 1989. ♦

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