Frequently Asked Questions

Our Academy is state certified to provide counterintelligence and risk management courses and programs. Courses are created with input from multiple seniors from different agencies, services, and backgrounds to provide varied expertise and perspectives, and are reviewed by subject matter experts and academy leadership. Our staff have decades of experience and the vast majority hold advanced degrees. 

Certification demonstrates that our company and program has been evaluated by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and shown to meet their requirements and standards for an institution of higher learning to offer certificate courses and certificate programs.

We are certified but like most training programs, not accredited. We offer professional, quality training but accreditation is a complex and lengthy process, so this will take time to complete.

We are an institution of higher learning but not a college or university because we do not offer degree programs. 

We are not eligible to apply to offer VA benefits until 2024.

Our training is intended to provide an academic experience and valuable practical training that can assist in your career progression. You will receive a certificate for each program, but credentialing can only be obtained from a government agency. However, you should have an excellent understanding of counterintelligence or risk management after completing one of our programs.

There are many excellent government-sponsored training programs and if you can attend them, you should! However, existing programs are often restricted to select individuals or agencies, and there is a backlog and limited throughput. We offer unique courses not available in their programs. We take a multidisciplinary and inclusive approach that is unavailable anywhere else; our programs are open to government civilians and military members, cleared defense contractors and select private industry. Our goal is not to compete with government agencies but work in partnership with the community to fill training gaps. We believe we provide a valuable training experience and often do so more efficiently. Additionally, because we do not represent any one service or agency, we offer what we believe is the most accurate information of value to the community without regard to affiliation bias. 

Blackstone Training Academy offers a distinctive private training program with an unparalleled scope and depth of courses in counterintelligence and risk management. While there may be significant overlap in some material because the fundamentals of any discipline are the same, our modules are created from scratch and are unique to our Academy. 

Our courses are offered in-person, virtually, or via our mobile training teams (MTTs), where we will teach a full course of up to 30 individuals in our classroom or at your facility, almost anywhere in the world. MTTs can be tailored to your organization’s requirements and scheduling needs.

Each course has a level indicating the difficulty, knowledge level, and expectation for the course (see our course catalog for details). Those with no or little experience in counterintelligence should attend the Introduction to Counterintelligence course first. We have found that a variety of experience levels interact well in courses as students learn not just from instructors but also fellow students. Seniors frequently report they had valuable experiences even in our fundamental courses.

Some courses are more unique with specialized attendance or require a tailored approach. If a course is not offered, we will provide it by request with a minimum of seven registered attendees. However, to request a MTT or tailored course, you must purchase the full course. 

Yes, if you would like a course not identified in the catalog, an organization can contract with us to create a new tailored course as a full MTT. Slight tailoring of existing courses is included in the cost of the MTT. 

Organizations may purchase individual slots or whole courses (MTTs) in bundles to be used towards any offered course of the same tuition throughout the contract or calendar year.

We offer brown bag sessions with subject matter experts who can provide one-on-one discreet executive or small group discussion and consultation for any area of counterintelligence or risk management you need help with. 

We offer follow-on consulting services, such as assisting in establishing an insider threat or supply chain risk management program, analysis, or other support services, through our Academy or parent company, Blackstone Defense Services. 

Our written material is purposely unclassified to allow us to bring it anywhere in the world for our mobile courses. However, we adapt our training to organizational needs and the access level of the facility and attendees. 

Our tuition is listed in our course catalog on the website. Unless otherwise stated, all course material is included in the cost of the course.

We accept check, credit card, and ACH payment; you may contract directly with us or through an existing prime. Note that we do not begin tailoring of any course until payment is received. 

Individual students must apply for admission to the Academy. This is not a lengthy process and requires completion of about fifteen fields and some document uploads. The application fee is $100. Once formerly admitted, you may enroll in courses. Organizations may opt for a group audit course where individual admission is not required. However, to receive a grade, students must be formally admitted and complete the required assessment (e.g., test or paper); only graded courses will receive a certificate and be applied towards certificate programs. 

While we understand the concern about sharing personal information, like all educational institutions we need to verify who is attending our courses and earning certificates. We require students to provide proof of citizenship and a waiver is required for non-U.S. citizens. Additionally, some courses require agency and instructor approval and are taught only in select facilities. Student information is stored in the U.S. and only a handful of people have access. Agencies who elect to purchase a full course have the option of limiting attendee information, but students will not receive a certificate.