Gunslinger, I was hopeing since I have been a hunter education instructor since 2009 it would cover the 6 month experience. I have a degree in Agriculture so I have taken a lot of biology classes. I had an offer for the forest ranger tech position back in May and thought I would really like the job but the Forestry commission laid off so many people in 2010 I didn't want to be without insurance with a 3 year old and a new born baby so I didn't take the job.

Duckiller, sorry I wasn't clear. I get carried away with the jargon sometimes. It's a bad habit for police officers.

What I meant was your best bet is to get on with a local police agency. Let them send you to a police academy to get your APOSTC (Alabama Police Officer Standards and Training Commision) certification. In return for paying for your training and your salary while in trainng, they will require you to sign a two year contract saying that you will work for them for two years. If you leave voluntarily within those two years you owe them for the reasonable prorated cost of your training. Different agencies have different figures. For the full cost I've seen them range from $6000 up to $16000.

With your qualifications, you should have no problem getting hired. It will just take longer, or take perfect timing, with the more desirable agencies.

This will probably be the easiest way, albeit a long way, to eventually get on as a GW.