As the felony investigative arm of the Department of the Navy (DON), NCIS civilian Special Agents have investigative responsibility within the DON for all crimes punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice by confinement of more than one year. The agency also frequently conducts felony investigations under the criminal laws of the United States when DON equities are involved.
Criminal investigations are at the core of everything that NCIS does. Agents are trained at the NCIS Special Agent Basic Training Program (SABTP) and Criminal Investigators Training Program (CITP) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), Glynco, GA. After gaining field experience with NCIS in basic criminal investigations, agents can move into specialty areas and are eligible for additional training.
Types of crimes investigated by NCIS include rape, child physical and sexual abuse, burglary and robbery, theft of government and personal property, and homicide. NCIS also has responsibility for investigating any non-combat death involving a naval service member where the cause of death cannot be medically attributable to disease or natural causes.