NGA earns national accreditation for GEOINT certification programs

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency achieved national accreditation for two geospatial intelligence professional certification programs on January 31, the agency announced February 16.

The National Commission for Certifying Agencies, the standard-setting body of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, accredited the GEOINT Professional Certification (GPC) programs for GEOINT Fundamentals and Imagery Analysis for a period of five years.

“Implementing the GEOINT Professional Certification Program for civilian and military personnel across the Department of Defense is essential to the continued development of our people and tradecraft, and ultimately to the success of the GEOINT mission,” said program director Kurt Savoie.

NCCA accreditation highlights the agency’s adherence to modern standards of practice for the certification industry.  Since 1977, NCCA has accredited over 270 programs across more than 120 credentialing organizations.

“NCCA’s standards are quite rigorous, we are very appreciative of the Commission’s commitment to understanding details unique to national security certification programs,” said Savoie.

GPC certifications address the specific requirements of GEOINT professionals across the Department of Defense. The Imagery Analysis certification program is one of 10 full performance level certification programs built for the Department of Defense GEOINT community. GEOINT Fundamentals is the foundational certification upon which all the proficiency level II GPC programs are built, and is required of all DoD GEOINT analysts.

These are the second and third GEOINT certifications to become accredited. In August 2016, NCCA accredited the Aeronautical Analysis full performance level program. NGA plans to apply for NCCA accreditation for the remaining eight programs over the next 18 months.

“The GEOINT mission is increasingly complex and it requires professionals at the top of the field. The GPC Program is setting the standard of excellence for GEOINT,” said Savoie.

Across all certifications, NGA has administered more than 13,000 exams and awarded over 7,200 credentials to GEOINT Professionals.

Source: NGA