1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 121: I benefited greatly
The Felton Star's information was quickly placed on Hoover's desk.

But Hoover did not check immediately.

He believes this is a private matter and should not take up work time.

After returning to his apartment from get off work, he opened the report and began browsing it with great interest alongside Tolson.

Tolson also took out the report he had previously received from Felton and selected clippings from the Felton Star.

Both of them were quite interested in Theodore's sudden outburst.

But after reading the report and the newspaper, they still couldn't understand why Theodore wanted to acquire such a newspaper.

This newspaper looks like a third-rate tabloid. DC newspapers are everywhere.

On this point, their views coincided with Theodore's.

Acquiring the Felton Star through normal business operations would cost approximately $35.

As for abnormal operations... they range from 350,000 to not spending a single penny, depending on the degree of abnormality.

After considering it for a moment, Hoover decided to hand the matter over to his assistant, Ms. Gandy.

At the start of the new year, Jack will be taking office, and Robert will soon be serving as Attorney General; they will be very busy.

…………

In previous years, the selection and training sessions were held in the basement of the headquarters, where there was a small training area.

However, it is said that there are a lot of trainees this year, and the FBI has coordinated with the military to borrow a new venue.

There are currently two relatively reliable sources.

One is Naval Base Anacostia in the Southeast region, and the other is Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.

On his way home from get off work, Bernie asked Theodore where he thought it might be.

Theodore shifted uncomfortably when he heard Quantico's name.

Bernie, unaware of what he was thinking, continued to share information about the selection and training process with him.

This selection and training program lasts for fourteen weeks, with the first ten weeks dedicated to training and the last four weeks for a final assessment.

The training is divided into two parts: basic skills training and case practice training.

Basic skills training includes legal procedures, evidence collection, weapons use, and physical training, while case practice includes case simulation, interrogation techniques, interdepartmental collaboration, and report writing.

All training courses will be subject to assessment.

During the training period, the schedule was packed from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

Sundays are free time, and you can apply to go out after 1 p.m.

Throughout the journey, Bernie shared information about the selection and training with Theodore.

He learned all of this from the veteran agents.

He showed great excitement and anticipation for the upcoming selection and training.

On the morning of January 4th, before dawn.

Seventy-five men from all over the country gathered at the back door of the Department of Justice building.

They were put on trucks and driven to the training base.

They were transported in three military trucks with their canvas awnings letting in the wind and rattling loudly.

The carriage was mostly filled with detectives recommended by local police stations, a small number of soldiers recommended by the military, and two college graduates.

These three types of people are easy to distinguish.

The college graduates' words and actions seemed particularly naive, like deer that had wandered into a pride of lions, trying hard to disguise themselves, unaware that they were fundamentally different species from them.

With his hair shaved short, he looked very energetic, and his body swayed skillfully with the truck; he was a soldier from the army.

The officers, each with a different posture but staring intently with searchlight-like eyes, were from the police force.

Upon first meeting, both were strangers and remained silent for a moment.

Theodore looked outside and answered Bernie's question from his way home from get off work last night.

They are heading to Quantico.

Upon hearing this, a nearby detective approached and inquired about the situation at the training base.

Everyone in the carriage looked over.

This is a question that everyone cares about.

A Marine named Ed Cooper, who was closer to the group, told them that Quantico was a Marine Corps training base.

To illustrate just how poor a Marine Corps training base can be, he told a joke:

A group of Marines went to an air force base for parachute training. They were required to jump from a plane at a height of 1000 feet.

Upon hearing the news, the Marines became visibly nervous and uneasy. After discussion, they sent a representative to consult with the Air Force about whether the jump height could be reduced to 500 feet.

The request was rejected, with the Air Force citing that 500 feet was insufficient to deploy the parachute.

The Marines were shocked: You mean, we're carrying parachutes?
After he finished speaking, most of the people, including Bernie, burst into laughter.

Even Theodore laughed along.

Only the two soldiers next to Ed Cooper did not laugh.

They stared at Ed Cooper with stern faces, one on each side.

The laughter inside the carriage stopped abruptly.

They came from Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune, respectively.

Those are two Marine Corps training bases.

After the two soldiers introduced themselves, there was a few seconds of silence in the carriage, followed by even louder laughter.

The detective who had previously asked Theodore and Bernie about their accommodations almost fell off the car because he was laughing so hard.

Starting from this point, everyone introduced themselves and quickly became acquainted.

Just after seven o'clock, the truck drove into the Quantico training base.

The searchlights of the Marine Corps sentry swept across the area, and silence fell over the vehicle. The truck stopped, and everyone was ushered into a registration hall converted from a warehouse. Behind a long, paint-peeled table sat two clerks, and next to a typewriter were piles of manila envelopes.

After lining up to register their personal belongings, everyone was led to a room temporarily partitioned off with wooden boards to collect their suits, shoes, and briefcases. The briefcase contained an "FBI Agent's Handbook."

After changing their clothes, the group was led away from the warehouse and headed to the barracks.

The barracks were long, narrow wooden houses, with eight iron bunk beds crammed together like piano keys.

Theodore was grouped with Bernie and several other people from the same truck.

Apart from a few guys who came from the military, the rest of the people were somewhat stunned.

They had never lived in such a crowded dormitory before.

The first day was very relaxed, with plenty of time and a relaxed management system. Except for not being allowed to leave the barracks, the trainees had most of their time to move around freely.

After dinner, supervisor Blake gathered the 75 trainees in the warehouse for a pep talk.

After the speech, everyone returned to their barracks to sleep.

Just as Bernie had found out, the lights went out promptly at nine o'clock.

But no one went to sleep after the lights were turned off.

Harold Wilson, a clinical ward staffer at Theodore Hospital, was writing a letter to his wife by flashlight, muttering to himself as he wrote, "My dearest Martha, I touched the real FBI badge today..."

Harold Wilson is a detective from Chicago who got married last year.

The Marine living above him, Billy Hawke, jumped out of bed, went into the bathroom, and came out a moment later with two bottles of bourbon whiskey tossed around a smug look on his face.

This move caused everyone who was lying on the bed to sit up and give him a thumbs up.

Theodore was puzzled as to how Billy Hawke and Harold Wilson managed to smuggle contraband into the barracks and evade a search.

Everyone shared a bottle of whiskey and was quite satisfied.

Soon, snoring filled the barracks.

The next morning, the students, dressed in suits and leather shoes, began their morning run.

Almost everyone complained about the dress code for morning runs.

Detective Harold Wilson nearly lost his shoes for the fourth time. He ran to the side, put them on, and caught up, muttering to himself as he ran:
"This thing is harder to please than my wife."

Supervisor Blake appeared behind him like a ghost, holding a chrome megaphone, and asked into his ear, "How difficult is your wife to please?"

Harold Wilson was startled and blurted out "xxx", which made everyone burst into laughter.

Not far behind him, Billy Hawke quietly pulled his tie out of his pocket and whispered to Theodore for help: "Hey buddy, quick, help me tie this thing up."

Theodore glanced at the knotted tie and looked puzzled.

He had just helped Billy Hawke tie his tie when Ghost Black appeared beside them, his sharp eyes scanning back and forth between Billy Hawke and Theodore.

After Blake left, Billy Hawke secretly breathed a sigh of relief and gave Theodore a thumbs up: "Thanks, buddy."

Before he could finish his sentence, Billy Hawke slipped and fell to the ground.

After a morning run, there were many complaints.

Only a handful of people remained neatly dressed; most had slipped and fallen, their newly changed suits now covered in mud.

Amidst the noise and commotion, the selection and training began.

The morning sessions consisted of law courses and physical evidence technology courses.

Theodore listened attentively to the law lecture.

The FBI specifically hired a local judge and a retired prosecutor to teach this class.

They don't teach the legal texts themselves, but rather how to apply them in practice.

Today's law class was taught by a local senior judge who spent two hours talking about only one thing—how to make evidence legal.

He used the example of how a detective could falsely claim to have a search warrant to enter an apartment and find drugs, and then described seven or eight different methods.

This truly opened Theodore's eyes and demonstrated what it meant to manipulate the law at will.

The students, including Theodore, were writing furiously, constantly taking notes.

The old judge was very satisfied, and even after class ended, he was still somewhat reluctant to leave.

The physical evidence technology course is the course most students look forward to.

Instructors from the FBI lab spent two hours teaching trainees how to extract fingerprints.

The fingerprints were clearly and precisely imprinted on the glass.

This most basic level of fingerprint extraction completely failed to interest Theodore.

He spent five minutes demonstrating the operation to the instructor and then began writing and drawing in his notebook.

There is a one-hour break at noon, followed by weapons and tactics training in the afternoon.

Pistol shooting, vehicle interception tactics, building assault formations, etc.

These have always been Theodore's weaknesses. He practiced with Bernie for seven or eight months, but he still had some shortcomings.

Theodore practiced very carefully.

From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., the trainees have two hours of free time and dinner.

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. is evening self-study time, during which students are allowed to discuss and review what they have learned during the day.

A curfew will be imposed after 9 p.m.

After the lights were turned off, everyone was still quite excited. Some sat on their beds, while others walked around on the floor, quietly discussing their feelings about the first day.

Harold Wilson was still lying on the bed writing letters to his wife.

Billy Hawke seemed completely oblivious to the heat, running around in his baggy shorts, yelling and shouting. One minute he was complaining that running in dress shoes was practically inhuman, the next he was lamenting how difficult law classes were.

After circling around twice, he went to the restroom, retrieved the remaining bottle of bourbon whiskey, and shared it with everyone.

Theodore lay in bed, reflecting on what he had learned that day, and realized that the selection training was not as useless as he had imagined.

He benefited greatly from the afternoon tactics lesson at least.

(End of this chapter)