FLETC Honor Graduate of the Year

left to right: Ken Keene, Deputy Director, FLETC; Honor Graduate of the Year, Special Agent Shane Dixon, DSS; and Mark Hunter, Assistant Director for Training, DSS

The FLETC presented its “Honor Graduate of the Year” Award for 2006 to Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent Shane L. Dixon. This award is presented annually to the FLETC basic training honor graduate having the highest academic average.

Special Agent Dixon graduated from FLETC’s Criminal Investigator Training Program on August 29, 2006, achieving a 98.10 percent academic average. There were 3,944 eligible basic training graduates during 2006. Dixon also excelled at firearms qualification and physical fitness. At a luncheon in his honor at the FLETC’s headquarters facility, he was recognized for his accomplishments.

Guest speaker for the event was Mr. Mark Hunter, Assistant Director for Training, Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Department of State.

"As the law enforcement and security arm of the Department of State, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) has Special Agents assigned in 159 foreign countries and 25 U.S. cities. The basic criminal investigator training provided by FLETC provides our agents with the foundation for their careers starting with investigating visa and passport fraud, domestic and overseas protection, and managing embassy security programs overseas," said Hunter. "FLETC and DS have a long and fruitful history of more than 20 years of working together. We are not the largest agency in terms of the number of students who pass through FLETC, but in terms of quality, our students rank among the very top. That is, in large part, a testimony to the fine, quality training FLETC provides."

This is the second year in a row that a Diplomatic Security Service trainee has won this prestigious award. Past recipients of the FLETC Honor Graduate of the Year Award have included officers and agents with the 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.

“Special Agent Dixon is joining the ranks of an elite group of law enforcement professional,” said FLETC Director Connie Patrick. “By excelling during training at FLETC, the men and women who received this award demonstrated their strong commitment to serve and protect our nation.”

Special Agent Dixon earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Sociology and an Associates of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the Tennessee Tech University.

Prior to enlisting with the Diplomatic Security Service, the Tennessee native worked as a Wilson County (TN) Deputy Sheriff, a Senior Intelligence Specialist with the Justice Department’s Regional Organized Crime Information Center (ROCIC), and a Special Agent for the Department of Energy. Special Agent Dixon also served four years in the United States Marine Corps.

In addition to his current position with the DSS in Los Angeles Field Office, CA; he also served details in Afghanistan. He will deploy to the Côte d'Ivoire this year.