School, in new quarters, offers analyst career training

By John Nolan

Staff Writer

Friday, January 16, 2009

BEAVERCREEK — If you recently lost your job in a layoff, or you have a job but are considering a career switch, the region's new school for training intelligence analysts for government and business jobs wants you as a student.

Business leaders got a look Friday, Jan. 16, at the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center for Human Capital Development, located in Synergy & Mills Development's Pentagon Park office corridor off Interstate 675. The Dayton Development Coalition, the public-private economic development organization whose chief executive officer, Jim Leftwich, is on ATIC's board of trustees, arranged the open house and tours Friday.

The school will begin a 10-week "boot camp" course on Feb. 23 that is intended to train analysts and help them obtain the required security clearances on an accelerated schedule, said Harrell Van Norman, a staff member leading the ATIC school's workforce development and cyber security programs.

The program is intended to serve workers who recently lost jobs and seek new career training. No prior experience work in intelligence gathering or electronic sensing technology is required, Van Norman said.

For those who already have a job but may want to change careers, ATIC has a nine-month program in which students would attend classes two nights a week, he said. ATIC also is preparing master's degree programs, including a partnership with the University of Dayton for a master's in cyber security.

ATIC is working with the government to try and expedite security clearance processes that can take from four to 18 months, depending on the level of background investigation and security clearance required, Van Norman said.

The school's training programs are intended to address a growing need for new intelligence analysts for the military, spy agencies and defense contractors, as a generation of analysts hired during the Cold War begins to retire. With expected retirements, there could be as many as 5,000 job openings in the Dayton region alone during the next 10 years, said Hugh Bolton, who joined the ATIC school in November as its chief executive officer.

ATIC offers an alternative for nonmilitary personnel to prepare for analyst careers, Van Norman said. It draws instructors from sources including colleges, industry and the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Institute of Technology, and National Air & Space Intelligence Center at nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

And, because the school has an auditorium, classrooms and training labs constructed for use as top-secret space for conferences and classes, it can host military gatherings and intelligence industry conferences for the region, Bolton said.

The not-for-profit school was founded in 2006. It has graduated 28 students since then through pilot programs, in cooperation with partners Wright State University and Clark State Community College. It moved into its new quarters at 2685 Hibiscus Way in November and December, and commenced classes there this month.

ATIC was begun with federal and state funding. The school's goal is to become self-supporting by 2011 with fees from students and revenues from hosted conferences, Bolton said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Analyst school

The Advanced Technical Intelligence Center for Human Capital Development is occupying most of the first floor of a two-story building constructed by Synergy & Mills Development. CACI Inc., a defense contractor relocating from current offices in Fairborn and Beavercreek, is moving into the second floor.

The $2 million costs of security improvements to make the building suitable for top-secret meetings pushed the project's cost to $20 million, said Jerad Barnett, president and chief executive officer of Synergy & Mills.