Digital Force Protection Course
Every operator who deploys or travels leaves a digital signature. Learn to control yours - and leave with a hardened device, a live comms plan, and a footprint that holds up under real pressure.
FOUNDATIONAL PROGRAM
A personal security education, not an app-configuration class.
Most digital force protection training hands operators a checklist of apps to install and a PDF to read alone later. FFP-201 does neither. Students build a personal threat model on Day 1 using a structured risk framework, what to protect, from whom, how likely, how severe, how much friction is acceptable, and every tool issued for the rest of the week is the direct answer to a question that model raises. Nothing is installed for its own sake.
Instructors hold special operations and U.S. Cyber Command backgrounds. Every technique taught has been tested against real threat environments, not derived from civilian security certification material alone.
Program Overview
Over five days, students build a working security posture from the ground up: a hardened smartphone, hardware-backed credentials, a hardened home and travel network, a masked communications identity, and a live encrypted PACE plan that the course itself runs through starting Day 1 afternoon.
Grading is continuous, not just a final exam. Real personal information surfacing in a cover identity is caught and graded as it happens.
Key Focus Areas:
- Personal threat modeling using a structured risk framework
- Mobile device hardening on a de-Googled operating system
- Hardware-backed credential security and password manager migration
- Travel router, home network, and browser hardening against passive and targeted collection
- Masked-identity issuance and compartmentalized communications
- Data-broker footprint reduction and social-media metadata hygiene
- Physical and environmental threat recognition for travel and field conditions
- Live PACE plan execution and a graded capstone scenario under communications disruption and elicitation pressure
Who Should Attend
- Personnel deploying or traveling to non-permissive or foreign-intelligence-heavy environments
- Special detachments requiring an organic digital signature-reduction capability
- Cleared contractors and advisors operating outside secure facilities
- Unit leadership responsible for pre-deployment personal security preparation
- Law enforcement personnel operating in investigative or undercover environments
U.S. citizenship and DoD/government sponsorship required. No foreign national access, no exceptions. A citizenship/sponsorship screening step is part of cohort intake.
Training Approach
Every tool students receive is the answer to a specific question from their own Day 1 threat model. The course draws on established, independently published digital privacy and security practice to explain why each tool matters alongside the how of setting it up. Every piece of issued hardware is fully configured and working by the time students leave Day 1, not a project for later.
Mobile delivery (MTT) is available. Courses are preferred at the Forge and Flight Academy facility in Carthage, NC. Sandhills Region, 35 miles from Fort Bragg.
Program Outcomes
Graduates can:
- Build and defend a personal threat model and explain the reasoning behind every security decision it drives
- Harden a mobile device against targeted compromise and maintain that posture over time
- Use hardware-backed multi-factor authentication and a password manager to protect a full credential set
- Configure and maintain a hardened travel router, home network, and browser against passive and targeted collection
- Operate a compartmentalized, masked communications identity without leaking real personal information
- Reduce personal exposure in commercial data-broker databases and strip identifying metadata from shared media
- Execute a live PACE communications plan and fall back correctly under disruption
- Recognize and respond correctly to hostile networks, physical surveillance, and elicitation attempts
Certification
Graduates receive the FFP-201 Digital Force Protection Certificate, awarded on a graded live-scenario capstone across five proficiency domains: Device Hardening, Credential Security, Network Security, Elicitation Resistance, and Signature Discipline. Plus a written and practical knowledge check. 75% combined pass threshold.
Hardware and Services Retained
Every item below is issued to and kept by the student, fully configured before graduation. Not a supply list. Not homework.
- Hardened smartphone (de-Googled Android build)
- Hardware security key (FIDO2 / hardware two-factor authentication)
- Password manager account, migrated and hardware-key-protected
- Secure travel router
- Home/travel network security appliance
- Masked-identity and encrypted-communications service subscriptions (12 months)
- Raspberry Pi field kit
- Signal-shielded carry bag
- Encrypted VPN service (12 months)
Program Investment
FFP-201 is priced per student on a cohort basis. Minimum 8 students, maximum 20 per class. Pricing includes full instruction, all hardware and software listed above fully configured and student-retained, and the graded capstone assessment.
Contact us for a proposal specific to your unit or organization’s size and scheduling requirements. Proposals returned within 48 hours.
Government Contracting: Forge and Flight Academy LLC is SAM.gov registered (UEI: YV8UNYJWZHV1 | CAGE: 1A6J3). Available via GPC, MIPR, simplified acquisition, and all standard government contracting vehicles. All payment forms accepted.
Course Details
| Duration | 5 days / 40 contact hours |
| Format | Facility-based (Carthage, NC: Sandhills Region) or mobile training team (MTT) |
| Prerequisites | None. U.S. citizenship and DoD/government sponsorship required. No foreign national access. |
| Audience | DoD and government personnel, law enforcement, cleared contractors and advisors |
| Scheduling | Unit-based scheduling. Minimum 8 students per cohort. Contact us to begin scheduling. |
| Certification | FFP-201 Digital Force Protection Certificate: graded live-scenario capstone across five domains |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can attend FFP-201?
FFP-201 is restricted to U.S. DoD and government personnel, law enforcement, and cleared contractors operating under government sponsorship. There is no foreign national access, no exceptions. A citizenship and sponsorship screening step is part of cohort intake.
Is FFP-201 just a class on setting up privacy apps?
No. Every tool is taught as the answer to a threat-modeling question, not a checklist step. Students build a personal threat model on Day 1 and every device, credential, network, and identity decision through the rest of the week traces back to it. The course also covers data-broker exposure and social-media metadata risk, not just device configuration.
What equipment do students keep?
Every issued item is student-retained and fully configured before graduation: a hardened smartphone, travel router, network security appliance, hardware security key, Raspberry Pi field kit, signal-shielded bag, and 12 months of VPN and identity-protection service.
How is FFP-201 graded?
Grading is continuous. From Day 1 afternoon, students operate a live encrypted communications plan that the course itself runs through. Inconsistencies are caught and graded as they happen. Day 5 is a graded live-scenario capstone across five domains plus a written and practical knowledge check.
Can the course be delivered at our location?
Yes. Mobile training team (MTT) delivery is available. Courses are preferred at the Academy facility in Carthage, NC. Contact us to discuss your location and scheduling requirements.
Coming Up in the Force Protection Track
FFP-401: Advanced Personal Security, The follow-on for FFP-201 graduates with a Linux/CLI proficiency bar. Covers technical surveillance countermeasures, direction-finding tradecraft, non-destructive entry, and safe-house/team-clearing procedures. Expected to open for scheduling Q4 2026.
FFP-101: Personal Security Awareness, A shorter commander and leadership orientation covering the threat landscape and what FFP-201 produces. No prerequisites. Coming soon.
FFP-301: Unit Digital Security Planning, For S2s, S6s, and personnel security officers. Building an organizational personal security program, baseline standards, and internal training pipelines at the unit level. Coming soon.
Contact us to be notified when any of these programs open for scheduling.
Schedule This Course for Your Unit
All training proposals are customized to your unit's size, operational timeline, and location preference. We respond within 48 hours.
Related Courses:
- FFR-201: Tactical RF Fundamentals, understanding the signal environment your devices transmit into
- FFR-101: RF Awareness for Non-Technical Personnel, leadership-level signal awareness