FARMVILLE —The United States Department of State continues to believe security training needs “are best addressed using the Fort Picket location” for the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC), the Department’s Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Julia Frifield, told Senator Tim Kaine in a November 18 letter.

But the deal is not done, even though a portion of funding has already been appropriated.

“A revised Master Plan for the Fort Pickett site is currently on hold while we complete due diligence concerning possible use of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia,” she writes in response to a November 5 letter from Senator Kaine and Congressman J. Randy Forbes to Secretary of State John Kerry seeking a project status update.

“The Administration is still reviewing the future location for FASTC,” Frifield tells the senator, adding that “the Department of State remains committed to establishing FASTC in Virginia without further delay.”

Both Senator Kaine and Congressman Forbes stressed the positive as they released the letter and their own press statement.

“We are so pleased that the State Department continues to believe that Fort Pickett is the ideal location for its security training. As the 2012 tragedy in Benghazi and more recent threats to a number of U.S. embassies around the world have underscored,” the two men said in a joint statement, “there are few missions more important than providing the men and women who represent our country abroad with the training they need to successfully promote U.S. interests and return home safely. A FASTC at Fort Pickett is well-suited to meet this need for years to come.”

The Department’s goal is to construct a facility that will ensure the foreign affairs community is properly prepared when serving overseas.

“Not only at our most challenging posts,” Frifield explains, “but throughout the ever-changing overseas environment. The Department agrees that security training is a critical component for maintaining the safety of our personnel and facilities abroad.”

Fort Pickett best meets such a training facility’s needs, the State Department continues to believe.

In February, the Department modified its original proposal and is currently seeking, she tells the senator, to consolidate hard-skills security training.

“The cost for a hard-skills exclusive facility at Fort Pickett is estimated to be $461 million, for which some funding has already been appropriated,” she states, “and we continue to look for opportunities to further reduce these costs.”

The State Department told Congress in 2008 that it needed one consolidated training facility to improve efficiency, decrease operating costs and provide the nation’s diplomats and associated personnel with the training required to safely and effectively serve in the world’s danger spots.