Internal Revenue Service

I don't recall what was on the list of items, but one thing I see recommended over and over on forums is wrestling shoes for the mat room. I didn't find them necessary, I just wore running shoes.

Here's what I recommend, especially if you're flying in, with no car. Pack light. Pack a suit, shirt, tie, dress shoes, a week or two of clothing (casual, athletic, etc), toiletries, laptop. You'll have plenty of opportunities to go shopping if you need anything.

You get issued everything to wear during training hours. CITP has you wear a pants belt, then a duty belt on top with all the gear like a patrol officer. The issued pants belt is crap. I picked up a nicer, basic 5.11 web belt, and a leather gun belt for duty gear. That's what I recommend, but it's not necessary.

Don't bother studying, or picking up a firearm if you never shot one before. Academically, IRS-CI trainees do really well in CITP. Focus on your fitness. You'll be taught everything you need to know.

PT: I see this question all the time, and I'm always wondering if the question is aimed at obtaining the bare minimum. You don't need to be an Olympic athlete. CITP is more physically demanding because you're going to the mat room twice a week. What you do is generally up to your instructor. There's "must hit" topics, like baton, OC spray, search, etc, but then there's plenty of wiggle room for weight room, running, BJJ, boxing, etc. Generally if we weren't training any specific skill, we were doing BJJ or in the weightroom. Most I ran was 1.5 miles in class. Hardest stuff was the circuit training/calisthenics/BJJ.

In SAIT: matroom once a week. Lots of calisthenics, circuit training. When I was there, they had us wear our vests during this.

Fitness test: there's two. CITP, which is administered twice and you can see on their website, and IRS-CI, which was administered once (and is currently push-ups, sit ups, stretch, 1.5 mile run). There isn't a minimum score at this time, you just need to complete it. Though there's a new IRS-CI fitness test being developed to eventually implement and will be scored. I don't know what the events are or what the scoring will be.

Free time: after class your evenings are on your own, plus weekends. CITP is definitely the easier course and I could have studied less and had more fun. SAIT is a grind academically: lots of studying, but it's front loaded. The first half of SAIT, you're probably not going to Savannah or Jacksonville on the weekends, but the back half is more manageable.

I'd say I was studying the most the first half of SAIT. There isn't much homework for CITP, so I either ran or hit the gym.

FLETC is a boring grind. I strongly recommend having something to fill the time not studying or training because otherwise that what leads to poor decisions and being sent home.

Edited by user Monday, May 9, 2022 5:09:01 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Yes, happens in nearly every class.

Lots of alcohol consumption

Edited by user Thursday, May 12, 2022 11:12:23 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I drank maybe twice when I was in FLETC. I still hung out a lot, still had a great time, a couple times I was making sure classmates/friends got to their rooms alright, but time was great.

Also, hard liquor is no longer allowed on campus....just beer and wine or wine coolers. When I went, hard liquor was allowed and there were some crazy pool parties and BBQs but I believe an incident on campus led to banning of it. Not sure how life is on campus with COVID, I was last there in February but only for 2 weeks.

What’s the odds of sharing a room/bathroom at FLETC?

What about footwear. I noticed that we should bring sneakers for running or working out but what about tactical boots? Are those something that are issued? If so, do we have to wear the ones provided or is it like the military where you can buy others to wear as long as they meet certain specifications? I have the same question for eye protection. I have prescription sunglasses that I used in the military when in the field or at the range. I was going to order a new pair but they are pricey so I wanted to make sure Ill be able to wear them there.

Going to try and hit a lot of what was asked - Dubyac's post is very spot on too. I was there a few months ago so take that for what its worth:

Did not really use a lot of the clothes I brought. There are obviously times you want to change out of your gear but a lot of your meals and time will be spent in uniform.

Wish I brought a better mattress topper. I went with a cheap option and regretted it after seeing some of the ones my classmates bought. If you're going to be there in the winter months, don't let Georgia fool you; mornings are cold. I wish I brought a long sleeve athletic shirt to wear under the PT shirt. Sometimes you are doing PT at 5-6AM, sun hasn't risen and it feels like 30-40 out. IRS instructors were cool about letting people wear it under the uniform but YMMV (and unsure about CITP). The gym does have the option to rent out a smurf sweat suit that is approved PT gear but obviously that can be a little much too. Finally, I wish I brought something better for my free time. You will hang out with your classmates a lot, but sometimes you want to go and relax, so having something like a game console would be nice.

No need to study ahead of time. CITP and SAIT are both designed to train somebody from the ground up. SAIT does have an expectation of some basic accounting skills, but if you passed the SAKaSE you are qualified.

You should be fit enough, whatever that means to you. See Dubyac's post for CITP info. For IRS, they are now doing mandatory after hours workouts as well. There were occasions were we would run full PT exams as well. Similar to CITP you can't really fail it unless you don't do it, but know they are watching your performance and drive to perform at 95-100%. Don't sandbag any of the PT exams ever. Obviously don't hurt yourself, but make sure everybody knows you're putting in the effort.

There is a lot of Free Time in CITP. Take advantage of it. SAIT is a grind and much less free time is available. SAIT will have you hitting the books in advance of each exam.

Yes, people fail out of SAIT due to academics, but what they will tell you is that it is mostly bad judgement calls (on and off duty) that will cause people to fail out. Firearms is another area where people will fail out. Shooting is a skill, if you need more help take advantage of the resources at FLETC and if needed go to a range off base and practice more. This is your job while you're at FLETC so yes its an expense to do that but you don't want to fail out for that.

Had people in our class that didn't drink. People will bring it up to you but your classmates should respect that decision. COVID lockdown though... there was practically nothing else to do but drink.

Dorming (copying and pasting my post from another thread) - Depends on where you get housed. "Taj" is normally 2 to a room. "Crack Houses" are normally one to a room with a shared bathroom (jack and jill style). There are some single occupancy single bathroom ones, but when I was there they were reserved for COVID isolation.

Footwear - Athletic shoes / sneakers are fine. If you are a boot person by all means feel free, but you will need to change for matroom, and know that you will be walking 2-3 miles most days. Some people bought matroom specific shoes as well (careful with that too as sometimes there are impromptu runs outside.)

Eyepro - You can bring your own eyepro and earpro. There is a lot of indoor shooting so you might not want (and they might not allow) sunglasses. Have both ready.