FDLE Certification and Active Duty

[Vipes]

Hello, folks. I'm looking for some advice. Back in June of 05, I became certified with the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement after attending an Academy. Awhile after that, I decided I wanted to serve my country and see some places and joined the military. I enlisted under Military Intelligence and I'm currently stationed at Ft. Gordon, GA. Between the love of law enforcement and the fact I have so many LE friends back in FL, I really want to come back to the state to work in LE. However, when my enlistment contract ends, my certification will have expired. I was told before I left that since I'm Active Duty, that the certification will remain active and I just might need some schooling for a few weeks on new case law. However, I'm hearing some conflicting stories.

Does anyone have some information on this situation or maybe a plan of action? I tried emailing FDLE to ask but I never got a response and I haven't found anything out on their website.

[kc12]

How long is your enlistment? If your cert expires only a couple months prior to exiting the military, I'd save up as much leave as possible and try to take it as terminal. I'd also do what I could to transfer to a post in Florida and try to be a reserve officer with a local agency. If your a Florida reserve officer then you still maintain your cert (at least that was the rumor I heard).

[Evil Cartman]

I've heard that military service freezes you cert, preventing you from lossing your cert. Call FDLE or the academy you attended.

[Vipes]

That's kind of what I heard too. But so many people have heard different things. heh

[PhilipCal]

FDLE Certification

It may be contrary to FDLE policy to answer certification questions by E-Mail. I would suggest you write a letter, listing your certificate number, the Academy from which you graduated,as well as the date/year. Snail mail may be a little slower, but I feel more confident you'll recieve an answer fairly quickly. It's very possible that your certificate will remain valid while you're on active duty. You need to hear that from FDLE though.

[Vipes]

Alright, just an FYI, I called FDLE to get a definate answer. I was told that yes, my certification can be extended however I do need to submit a letter and a copy of my discharge papers to FDLE for them to run with it.

That's such a load off my shoulders. I was doing close to 70hrs a week, for 9 months in between working full-time and the academy, for my certification. It's a big relief to know I don't have to do it again.

[PhilipCal]

Okay, Vipes, you got your answer. Go for it. Good luck