The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Academy West has been launched in Las Vegas. The building is located near Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), where Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) will have access to a dedicated training checkpoint. 

After a TSO is hired, they will work at their home airport for approximately three months. Once they have completed this initial phase of their employment, they will participate in one week of virtual training taught by TSA Academy instructors. The second leg of their initial training includes two weeks of in-residence, standardized training at either TSA Academy West or TSA Academy East. Their training concludes with on-the-job training at their home airport following graduation from the TSA Academy.

The curriculum includes threat detection and resolution; pat-down techniques; screening of personal property; adaptive thinking and customer experience. TSOs also have access to desktop simulators that generate individual X-ray images to increase on-screen detection capabilities of carry-on property and checked baggage.   

TSA selected Las Vegas for the location of TSA Academy West because it can be easily reached by air from most cities in the central and western area of the United States and there is ample lodging around the city. In addition, LAS has made available an authentic checkpoint training environment devoted to the Academy, further evidence of the strong partnership between the airport and TSA.