Revised December 14, 2021

Many questions surround TSA Security Training. Who is required to complete it? What are your program's training requirements? How can you keep on top of all the changes, record keeping and management of training for your program(s)?

Over the next few months, in this blog, we will talk about ways to make this a bit easier and more manageable. We’ll start by helping you with who exactly needs training and who else should take security training courses. 

It is important to realize that your TSA Security Program(s) dictates who needs to take what security training. The Twelve-Five Standard Security Program (TFSSP), DCA Access Standard Security Program (DASSP), Private Charter Standard Security Program (PCSSP), and the FBO security program related to the DASSP each outline specific training requirements.

The TFSSP and PCSSP define similar positions that require security training. Every TFSSP and PCSSP operator must designate In Flight Security Coordinators and Ground Security Coordinators.  The positions perform different functions for each of the two programs so the training requirements are different, however. We will cover this in a bit more detail in a future blog post.

As you probably know, DASSP is the program that those who wish to fly into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) fall under. This, because of the heightened security, has additional training requirements. You still need In Flight Security Coordinators but you will also need to have a Primary Security Coordinator and at least one Alternate Security Coordinator. These positions all have additional security training requirements that need to be met.

Industry best practices dictate that FBOs serving as “gateway”, or last point of departure, airports for flights into DCA also have some security training requirements. Gateway FBOs need to have a Primary and at least one Alternate Security Coordinator. These two people need to have taken special security trainings to ensure the safety and security of flights into our nation’s capital.

Finally, as we all are in a customer service industry, NATACS recommends that regardless of which TSA security you are required to comply with, you have all your employees take some general overview training. This wouldn’t have any of the Sensitive Security Information (SSI) that is in the other training modules but would help employees understand the security programs and also enable them to explain special requirements to your customer.  

Stay tuned for our next blog post on aviation security training, where we'll discuss some of the most commonly forgotten groups who need security training so that you can make sure that your employees have taken and completed all necessary training.