RAPID CITY, South Dakota – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) presented its Security Training Instructor of the Year award to South Dakota’s statewide instructor at the agency’s TSA Honorary Awards celebration.
Patrick Fitzgerald, who is based in Rapid City, received the honor alongside other employee winners from across the country at a virtual event Thursday.
“Patrick demonstrates tenacity and strength every day he puts on his uniform,” South Dakota TSA Federal Security Director Mark Heisey said. “His unselfish, kindhearted approach is something that we could all learn from and should strive to emulate.”
In his role, Fitzgerald oversees and delivers training to Transportation Security Officers based at airports across the state. After new officers receive two weeks of intensive TSA Academy training, they return to their home airports and are given more coaching as they begin their careers. Additionally, experienced officers receive ongoing instruction to keep their skills sharp, learn new technology, and stay ahead of evolving threats. It’s Fitzgerald’s job to provide those lessons, year-round. “There’s never a quarter where there isn’t something coming up,” he said.
Fitzgerald is one of a select group of employees who has been with the agency since it was created 20 years ago. An Army veteran, he worked in accounting for 15 years, but after Sept. 11, he felt the call to service. “I so believed in the mission, that we needed to never let that happen again,” he said. At first, TSA’s training was handled by contractors, but when the trainer role became internal to the agency in 2008, Fitzgerald applied. He has served as South Dakota’s Training Instructor ever since. (Fitzgerald currently works alongside another training instructor based out of Aberdeen.)
Delivering TSA’s training, which is often designed for larger classes of officers that serve bigger airports, can present challenges to Fitzgerald in South Dakota. While he has a large geographic territory to cover, he consistently finds a way to make the material work for his audience and support the agency’s mission of strengthening transportation security and protecting travelers.
“The advantage is, I get to know each of the officers so well,” Fitzgerald said. “It gives me a unique opportunity to tailor the lessons exactly to them. I know what they’re really good at, and they know me, too.”
Learn more about other TSA Honorary Award winners from across the country.