National Firearms and Tactical Training Unit (NFTTU)

NFTTU assists ICE by providing personnel with firearms, intermediate force weapons, protective equipment, training, guidance, as well as tactical and logistical support. The unit increases safety and improves the tactical proficiency of the armed workforce, while maintaining accountability for property.

Bert Medina
Assistant Director, National Firearms and Tactical Training Unit

Mr. Bert Medina was appointed as assistant director for the ICE National Firearms and Tactical Training Unit (NFTTU) in November 2006. Mr. Medina is responsible for managing national firearms and use of force programs within ICE.

This includes policy development, firearms and defensive tactics instructor training, specialized firearms training, acquisition, issuance, maintenance, storage and accountability of firearms, body armor and related items.

NFTTU has office locations in Fort Benning, Ga.; Altoona, Pa.; and Washington, D.C. Personnel are also assigned to support ICE and CBP academy functions in Glynco, Ga., and Artesia, N.M.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Medina served as the assistant director, NFTTU Tactical Operations Branch, Fort Benning, Ga., and more recently as the acting assistant director, NFTTU Armory Operations Branch, Altoona, Pa. In these capacities he oversaw activities that included the development and execution of firearms and use of force training at the national level. This included the firearms and defensive tactics instructor training programs, as well as individual officer tactical training. At the NFTTU Altoona facility, he oversaw functions related to the acquisition, maintenance, issuance and accountability of firearms. This also included the preparation of specifications, test plans, testing and evaluation of ordnance items for acquisition.

Prior to the establishment of ICE, Mr. Medina performed these functions while at the U.S. Customs Service, Firearms and Tactical Training Division, Office of Training and Development, and the National Firearms Program Staff, Office of Investigations training as a manager and an instructor. Mr. Medina brings a wealth of technical and practical experience. His expertise has been instrumental in the development of marksmanship training and in support of several specialized firearms programs.

Mr. Medina has more than 25 years of federal service. He began his career in March 1985 as a special agent with the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. In 1989, he became a U.S. Customs special agent assigned to the Office of the Special Agent in Charge in Miami, Fla., where he worked investigations that included cargo crimes, international money laundering, narcotics smuggling, and assignments in support of undercover operations. In 1993, he took an assignment with the National Firearms Program Staff, Fort Benning, Ga. Mr. Medina has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Louisville.