An inside look at how American diplomats prepare for dangerous missions
ABC News was there as Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the compound.
BLACKSTONE, Va. -- Screeching tires. A pop of gunfire. The sudden, ear-shattering boom of an explosion.
The loud noises reverberating from the State Department's sprawling training grounds in southern Virginia may seem better suited to an active war zone than the otherwise idyllic stretch of countryside, but creating vivid scenarios that mirror the real-life dangers U.S. diplomats and security staff may encounter around the world is the heart of the curriculum here.
Located in the tiny town of Blackstone, the state-of-the-art Foreign Affairs Security Training Center is a pivotal stop for American personnel on journeys to posts all over the globe.
ABC News was invited along when Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the 1,350-acre compound designed to train up to 10,000 individuals each year.
"We're putting diplomacy at the very heart of our foreign policy. But in order to do that diplomacy, people have to be out there," Blinken said. "Knowing that everyone who's going out is getting this training, getting the skill set to deal with any one of any number of situations gives me a lot of reassurance."
While special agents with the Diplomatic Security Service provide protection and undergo their own rigorous training program, the instructors at the facility attempt to instill critical skills in all department employees who visit the center using hands-on learning -- even for officials at the highest levels.
During his time in Blackstone, Blinken participated in a car-ramming exercise, speeding into a stopped car obstructing an escape route on a closed training track.
"For me, it was particularly fun, because in this job I haven't been able to get behind the wheel for three years now," Blinken laughed.
For many trainees whose responsibilities typically comprise of desk work and diplomatic engagements, the hands-on training may seem like an amusing break from the day-to-day rigor. But each lesson is carefully designed to hone skills that could prove crucial one day.
Over the past year, volatile security situations have forced the State Department to fully evacuate its embassy in Sudan and partially evacuate others in several countries, including Haiti, Niger and Iraq.
In the past, operations like these have proved calamitous.
In 2021, the scramble to flee the Kabul embassy amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan devolved into a frantic dash to destroy sensitive documents and airlift thousands of employees out of the country.
In 2012, an attack on American compounds in Benghazi killed four people, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.
While the syllabus at Blackstone draws from some of these hard-learned lessons and prevent history repeating itself, Carlos Matus, the director of the Diplomatic Security Service, acknowledges there's only so much that can be done during a week-long training program.
"We're not going to teach them everything," said Matus. "But we're going to get to 80% at the very least. We do expose them to what fear is."
The final exam for diplomatic staffers is designed to replicate one very bad day at the office, giving the trainees a chance to practice critical, on-the-spot decision-making skills.
Students at the facility meander through a massive cinderblock city meant to mimic the streets of a foreign posting; they go about their business until townsfolk (played by actors) alert them to a mass casualty event, where victims (played by realistic dummies) litter the street.
The trainees jump into triage mode, wrapping up gaping wounds with bandages and performing chest compressions until help arrives.
They move through different scenarios -- a run-in with a thief, a brawl in a dark bar playing loud heavy metal music, an interrogation by local law enforcement and others -- until it's time for the grand finale.
In the center of the faux city, a demonstration turns into a crisis when a pick-up truck fires off fake (but still very loud) rockets, sending protestors scrambling. Armed assailants pour into the roads, giving the trainees no other choice but to flee for the safety of the "embassy." They make their way to the embassy, only to find it too has sustained rocket fire and they must exit the dark, smoke-filled building and make their way to a helicopter waiting to evacuate them.
The hope, of course, is that none of the students will ever experience something even remotely similar to this chain of events in their professional lives. But if they do, they'll at least have had some training so that they may be able to lead themselves and others to safety.
"We've gotten so much feedback at our missions around the world where something has come up, and because of something they learned here, they were able to handle the situation," said Blinken. "That's the biggest validation you can get."
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