Associate Magazine - FBINAA - Q3-2022

FBI NATIONAL ACADEMY – A RETROSPECTIVE THROUGH THE EYES OF A NA GRAD

MAJOR ED O’CARROLL

(L-R) Ed O’Carroll, Arnie Daxe, and Joel Leson.

There is something truly special about the people you meet when you attend the FBI National Academy (NA) at Quantico, Virginia and the connections you make along the way. Those connections never cease to amaze me especially when one of them has been 50 years in the making. I am in constant awe of the men and women who have walked the hallowed halls of the NA. One person in particular, U.S. Col. Arnie Daxe , retired, has a personal connection. When a gallon of gas cost 55 cents, a Ford Pinto was selling for $2,078, and Richard Nixon was serving as the 37th president of the United States, the FBI NA was going strong. The year was 1972 and Col. (then Major) Daxe attended Session 91 of the NA, only the second session to be held at Marine Corps Base, Quantico. Col. Daxe told me there was no Yellow Brick Road in 1972 so he made up for it in 2021 by running (actually a fast walk) on a local track and setting a record for an 80-year-old. I was fortunate enough to witness this amazing feat and adorned his neck with an NA commemoration medal!

Like so many of us who would be selected to attend the NA, I knew very little of the organization early in my career but would grow to learn more over the years. As I climbed the ranks to an executive position within Fairfax County Police Department, I was eventually selected to be a member of Session 269. Those three months changed the course and focus of my career in a way that only those who are graduates can understand. I had the personal pleasure to meet Col. Daxe in 1997 during my assignment as a Crime Prevention Officer working at the West Springfield District Station, one of eight district police stations in Fairfax County. Not surprising to those who know him, Arnie was serving his community as a Neighborhood Watch coordinator and later became chair of the Fairfax County Citizen’s Advisory Council. To describe his career after graduation from the NA as “active in service” does not do him justice. Col. Daxe served his country and his community with distinction well before he joined the elite class of alumni. He would ultimately serve 28 years in the U.S. Army in the Military Police Corps and retired in 1992. In ad dition to stateside service, he served our country with distinction overseas as well, serving abroad in Korea, Belgium, and a combat tour in Vietnam. During his service he was awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Air Medal (twice), the Meritorious Service Medal and two commendations for Heroism. A graduate of the Army War College, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from City College of New York.

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