The Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE), part of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), is charged with ensuring that the security workforce across DOD is positioned to address our nation’s security challenges. This year, we continued to be the premier provider of security training, education, and certification in many different ways to achieve that mission, based on the career goals of the security professional and the time available to them for training and professionalization.
For over ten years, the Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE) has been the premier provider of security training, education, and certification for the Department of Defense (DOD) and has since branched out across the Federal Government. As the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Assistant Director and Deputy Assistant Director of the new Training Directorate, we have had the pleasure of watching CDSE grow and adapt to meet the needs of the changing security environment.
With the establishment of DCSA, the former National Training Center (NTC) became a part of CDSE and its mission to train on background investigations (BI) will continue under CDSE, from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. The newly established DCSA Security Training directorate contains CDSE, with complementary BI offerings, and the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA). Similarly, NCCA, located in Fort Jackson, South Carolina will continue to provide training, research and oversight for the polygraph program to over 25 federal agencies.
We are pleased to announce not only this year’s annual report, but also the new Director of CDSE, Ms. Heather Mardaga. Ms. Mardaga’s vision and leadership will propel CDSE into the next year and beyond, to continue to evolve with technology advancements and community requirements.
