My personal belief, not even POST should be a state-level academy but it has been already established as so. I have talked about this before that I believe the certificate issuers shouldn’t be the certificate certifiers. I believe a Board should be made for each certification to ensure its curriculum is matching the requirements of such departments etc.
If you want to be exact then we can talk about this easily.
POST was a flock that happened to pass congress ago and it was really a fed thing.
FITE’s head is basically Hobo_Bear which doesn’t affect its congressional place furthermore it’s literally meant for a state national guard and nothing more.
now what I consider as an “academy” would be also the Firestone Humanitarian Organization as it provides First Aid certification… but it’s a business that both not state level or county level. It is not about who you serve but what you provide. These people are academies and a Director should not be higher than any of the people leading departments.