The Field Training Officer (FTO) program is the field training for Park Rangers that have just graduated from the academy. This is a period where newly graduated Park Rangers will take what they learned in the academy and apply it to the park environment.

For Lateral Park Rangers this is a period of preparation, training transition and integration into the San José Park Ranger Program. New Park Rangers in the FTO program will be assigned to experienced, San José Field Training Officers for a 12-week training and evaluation period. Our FTO program structure is made up of:

• Three-week period with their primary FTO, where new Park Rangers begin working towards being a solo patrol Park Ranger. FTOs will train and evaluate their performance in the field and conduct daily and weekly evaluations
• New Park Rangers will be assigned to a second FTO for a three-week period. New Park Rangers will continue working in the field while their FTO continues to train and evaluate their performance.
• New Park Rangers will be assigned to a third FTO for another three-week period. New Park Rangers will continue working in the field while their FTO continues to train and evaluate their performance.
• New Park Rangers will rotate back to their primary FTO for the final phase of field training. During the final two weeks of in this phase, the FTO is only observing the Park Ranger’s performance in the field as if the Park Ranger was by themself.
• New Park Rangers who have been evaluated and have received satisfactory ratings during FTO will then be assigned to a Park Ranger team under the supervision of a Senior Park Ranger. They will continue to be evaluated and receive a final performance evaluation before completing probation to determine if the new Park Ranger will be retained as a permanent employee.