Tucked behind fences and gates, it is also shrouded in mystery. What is it? Who works there? Who are those young men and women always walking as a pack to Walmart?

Artesians are a tight-knit group. Lifers, transplants, passers-though, and the many FLETC students, officers, and their families, find themselves bonding over coffee at Kith and Kin or bleeding orange at the Bulldog Bowl. Our kids make friends in the dugout at the ballpark or make music together at the Ocotillo Performing Arts Center. We run the Eagle Draw trail together in the dark early mornings and share lanes at the pool. Trucks pull over on 26th Street to load up FLETC students that are hoofing it to get groceries and give them a ride. Locals are quick to buy a round to send to the FLETC kids at Adobe Rose. Those FLETC trainees are quick to support local businesses, coach youth sports, and offer a smile and a wave as you pass them on the street.

First housing a small liberal arts college, then a private Christian college, the 220-acre main campus of FLETC sat vacant for years. Artesia’s former mayor, Ernest Thompson, lobbied to create a community coalition to raise funds to purchase the vacant land. There had been talks of establishing a law enforcement training center somewhere in the Southwest and Mayor Thompson and the coalition proposed Artesia as a viable location to the federal government. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia was officially opened on October 1, 1989.

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers official website, fletc.gov, describes itself as “one of three FLETC residential training sites in the United States. Named for the town where it is located in the heart of southeast New Mexico’s oil and dairy belt, the 3,620-acre site includes a full range of facilities for conducting basic and advanced law enforcement training.”

The website also explains that FLETC Artesia is home to the United States Border Patrol and Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement Academies, as well as a TSA Training Center and even the Uniformed Police Training Program. FLETC Artesia offers a wide array of basic and advanced training programs which can be completed in Artesia or at other national and international locations.

The economic impact FLETC has on our city is significant. About $50,000,000 and some change goes back into Artesia’s economy. EVERY YEAR. Remember those packs of students walking to Walmart? Cha-ching.

According to the guest speakers at the FLETC Lunch & Learn hosted by Artesia Chamber of Commerce, “The Artesia facility, on average, hosts about 800 students at any given time and are looking at averaging 1,000 to 1,200 students in the near future. As of right now, Border Patrol is still hiring — there are currently about 19,000 Border Patrol officers in the country and the federal government is looking to employ about 21,000 officers. Federal Air Marshalls are also hiring. Currently, FLETC offers the Federal Air Marshalls 7 classes but are projected to expand to 10 classes by next year.”

Artesia would not be the Artesia we know and love without the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Deep-rooted Artesians would lose jobs. Our town would lose revenue, but most importantly, Artesia would be wounded beyond repair to lose the pride of training the students of some of the most important and honorable professions one can choose to dedicate their lives to.

Saying Farewell to One, Hello to Another