Omaha native and former Marine Jeremy Smith recently graduated from Homeland Security Investigations' Human Exploitation Rescue Operation Child-Rescue Corps (HERO Corps).
The HERO Corps recruits, trains and hires wounded and ill transitioning service members and veterans to support HSI in the areas of child exploitation investigation, child victim identification, traveling child sex offenders and digital forensics, according to a Dec. 15 U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement news release.
"HERO Corps is an excellent example of what can be gained through fostering innovative partnerships between government agencies, Department of Defense partners and nongovernmental organizations to support our wounded warriors’ transition to civilian life," HSI Acting Executive Associate Director Steve Francis said in the news release. "The name of this program could not be more apt — the veterans who do this work are indeed heroes."
After 13 weeks of HSI agency introduction and computer forensics training, the 12th HERO Corps class graduated, the release reported. The graduates will next do a one-year internship with nine months of hands-on training.
"The HERO Corps takes eligible veterans who may or may not have any computer experience and trains them to conduct complex forensic tasks," Smith said in the release. "It’s fulfilling to be able to wake up, go to work and know that I am still making a difference — just this time on the home front.”
