FLETC Presents Honor Graduate of the Year Award to U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Officer

Photo (from left): U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division Chief Kevin Simpson, 2010 Honor Graduate of the Year Eric Heiple, and FLETC Deputy Director Ken Keene. Photo courtesy of FLETC.

The FLETC presented its Honor Graduate of the Year Award for 2010 to U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Officer Eric M. Heiple during a ceremony held July 12. This award is offered annually to the FLETC basic training honor graduate with the highest academic average. FLETC Deputy Director Ken Keene presented Heiple the award in the presence of his family, friends, fellow Secret Service members and FLETC staff. Congressional representatives, federal, state and local law enforcement officers, and community leaders attended the annual event and offered their congratulations and support to the Secret Service officer.

Heiple graduated from the FLETC Uniformed Police Training Program Class 011 on May 27, 2010, with an academic average of 98.21, a perfect firearms score of 300, and a Physical Efficiency Battery (PEB) average of 96. He also received several awards while attending FLETC, including the Distinguished Fitness Award, the Academic Award, the Driving Award and the Distinguished Expert Award in Firearms.

The keynote speaker at the event was Secret Service Uniformed Division Chief Kevin Simpson. "There is no greater honor than to pay special tribute to one of our own for his accomplishments,” said Simpson. “Eric not only gave it his best shot, he gave it his all. He has shown that with hard work, determination and self-sacrifice, you can accomplish your goals.”

Past recipients of the FLETC Honor Graduate of the Year Award include officers and agents with the Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, National Park Service, U.S. Capitol Police, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, General Services Administration, Department of State, U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

“Although your performance is a tribute to the Secret Service and its recruitment and hiring standards, it is your dedication and determination to master all of the skills and knowledge necessary to become a federal officer that we are here to acknowledge,” said Keene.

Heiple is assigned to the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division in Washington, D.C. Secret Service Uniformed Division officers provide protection for the White House complex, the Vice President's residence, the main Treasury Building and Annex, and foreign diplomatic missions and embassies in the Washington, D.C., area. Additionally, Uniformed Division officers travel in support of presidential, vice presidential and foreign head of state government missions..

Prior to his position with the Secret Service, Heiple was a loss prevention supervisor for a major national retail organization. He was also a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, from where he earned both a bachelors and masters degree in Administration of Justice.

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