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Regular Session, 2011
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 11
BY REPRESENTATIVE BALDONE
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To memorialize the United States Congress to provide proper funding for the Regional
Counterdrug Training Academy which provides counterdrug training to law
enforcement agencies in the southern coastal region.
WHEREAS, the Regional Counterdrug Training Academy (RCTA) located at the
Naval Air Station in Meridian, Mississippi, began as a component of the law enforcement
agency sponsored, congressionally directed, Gulf States Counterdrug Initiative (GSCI); and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the GSCI is "to identify resources, services, and support
that can be legitimately provided by the Department of Defense and other agencies to
support counterdrug activities along the United States southern coastal region"; and
WHEREAS, although sponsored by law enforcement, six United States Senators,
nineteen United States Representatives, and three state governors heavily endorsed the GSCI
proposal; and
WHEREAS, one of the provisions of the GSCI document was a request by the
Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi senior drug law enforcement agencies to establish a
counterdrug training academy with the mission of training law enforcement officers in
counterdrug skills; and
WHEREAS, the academy mission was initially focused on the three requesting states
and later expanded to include the states of Georgia and Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the GSCI states, the RCTA provides training to law
enforcement agencies throughout the United States, including the National Guardsmen
involved in counterdrug support missions, which has been provided at no cost to the law
enforcement officers or agencies; and
WHEREAS, with guidance and resources provided by the Office of the Secretary of
Defense (OSD) Coordinator for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support, and the National ENROLLEDHCR NO. 11
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Guard Bureau (NGB), the Mississippi National Guard accepted the mission of establishing
a regional training center; and
WHEREAS, the RCTA training philosophy emphasizes hands-on training and
demands a secure field training facility; and
WHEREAS, since the first class began in September 1992, thousands of officers
have graduated in over forty-three different subjects at the RCTA; and
WHEREAS, the target audience is state, county or parish, and municipal uniformed
officers and conventional narcotics investigators; and
WHEREAS, the RCTA has been offering unparalleled training for over fifteen years
to law enforcement agencies all over the Gulf states region; and
WHEREAS, the RCTA has offered approximately sixty different counterdrug
courses as well as approximately ten counter terrorism courses at no cost to the law
enforcement agency; and
WHEREAS, the RCTA has been an extremely valuable asset to the law enforcement
community of the entire Gulf states region; and
WHEREAS, the budget used to fund RCTA has not been approved, causing all
upcoming classes to be canceled.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
memorialize the Congress of the United States to restore funding for the Regional
Counterdrug Training Academy located in Meridian, Mississippi.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
United States of America and each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE