TSA Security Training Online: Ground Security Coordinator (GSC) & In-Flight Security Coordinator (ISC) Course

Your Ground Security Coordinator doesn't have to be a pilot. In a lot of Part 135 operations the designation sits with a director of operations, a scheduler, or a station manager — someone ground-side who runs the security check and hands the aircraft to the crew. This is the course for them. (If your GSC also flies the leg, take GSC-ISC Training instead.)

What it covers

• Crewmember authorization and verification — confirming who belongs on the aircraft, and under what authority
• No-fly and selectee list procedures — identifying and correctly handling individuals on TSA watch lists
• Identification requirements — ID media standards, issuance, and lost or stolen replacement
• Area and aircraft security — access control, aircraft search and sealing, perimeter integrity
• Acceptance and screening of cargo — what your GSC is responsible for before it goes on the airplane

It's online, so your ops manager takes it at their desk between phone calls instead of losing a day to a classroom. Initial and recurrent are the same course — one purchase keeps the designation current year over year, at the minimum times your TFSSP calls for. Under 49 CFR § 1544.215(b) you designate and use a GSC for every domestic and international flight departure. This is how you keep that person qualified to do it.

Your In-Flight Security Coordinator is your pilot in command. That's not a choice you make — the regulation makes it for you, on every domestic and international flight you run. This is the course for them. (If that same pilot also handles the security check on the ground, take GSC-ISC Training instead.)

What it covers

• Security incidents and responses — recognizing and managing threats and disruptive behavior at altitude
• The National Terrorism Advisory System — what the alert levels mean and how TSA gets threat information to you
• Extraordinary locations — heightened procedures for sensitive or high-risk destinations
• Coordination with the Ground Security Coordinator — the handoff between ground-side and airborne responsibility

Your pilots are rarely in the building. This one runs on a phone or an iPad, so it gets done in a hotel room on an overnight or on a slow afternoon at the FBO. Covers initial and recurrent both, at TFSSP minimum times. 49 CFR § 1544.215(c) hands the ISC job to the pilot in command on every domestic and international flight. The training is what makes the designation stick.

In most Part 135 charter operations the same person does both jobs — runs the security check on the ramp, then flies the leg. Training them twice makes no sense. This is the course for them. (If your GSC and ISC are different people, take GSC Training and ISC Training separately.)

What it covers

• Crewmember authorization and verification — confirming who belongs on the aircraft, and under what authority
• No-fly and selectee list procedures — identifying and correctly handling individuals on TSA watch list
• Identification requirements — ID media standards, issuance, and lost or stolen replacement
• Area and aircraft security — access control, aircraft search and sealing, perimeter integrity
• Security incidents and responses — recognizing and managing threats and disruptive behavior at altitude
• The National Terrorism Advisory System — what the alert levels mean and how TSA gets threat information to you
• Extraordinary locations — heightened procedures for sensitive or high-risk destinations
• The ground-to-air handoff — carrying security responsibility from the ramp to the flight deck

Both designations, one sitting, one record to file. Your crewmember does it once instead of booking two courses and sitting through half the same material twice. Initial and recurrent for both roles, at TFSSP minimum times. You're designating a GSC for every departure under § 1544.215(b), and your PIC as ISC under 49 CFR § 1544.215(c). Same person, both hooks, one course.

Two designations. One sitting. One completion record.

Your security program doesn't stop at the flight deck. Anyone who performs security-related duties under your program needs documented training before they do it — dispatchers, line techs, front desk, contractors, authorized representatives. This is the course for them. (Coordinators need role-specific training as well — see GSC Training and ISC Training.)

What it covers

• Individual security responsibilities — what your program requires of each person, and the obligation to report
• Sensitive Security Information (SSI) — recognizing it, handling it, and protecting it day to day
• Insider threat recognition — behavioral indicators and what to do about them
• Security Directives and Information Circulars — the TSA advisories your people are expected to know and act on

Run your whole roster through it — employees, contractors, new hires before their first day. Short enough that nobody comes off the line for it, and it works as initial and recurrent both, so annual completion keeps your documentation clean. 49 CFR § 1544.235 is blunt about it: nobody performs security-related duties under your program until they've been trained. This is that training.

If your Ground Security Coordinator works all-cargo operations, the cargo requirements change — and how much applies depends on whether you run twelve-five all-cargo or full all-cargo. Most off-the-shelf courses ignore the difference. Ours doesn't. This is the course for them.

Both versions cover

• Cargo acceptance and screening — what comes aboard, how it's checked, and when you refuse it
• Authorized persons onboard — who's allowed on an all-cargo aircraft, and under what conditions
• Area and aircraft security — access control, aircraft search and sealing, perimeter integrity
• No-fly and selectee list procedures — identifying and correctly handling individuals on TSA watch lists
• Twelve-five vs. full all-cargo — the two programs carry different cargo obligations, and we're explicit about which ones are yours

Freight doesn't keep bankers' hours and neither does this. Self-paced and online, so your GSC fits it around the schedule instead of the other way round. Initial and recurrent, at the minimum times your TFSSP requires. Under 49 CFR § 1544.205 your cargo obligations depend on which program you operate under. The course covers both, and makes clear which is which.

When your pilot in command is also your Ground Security Coordinator — common in all-cargo operations — you need one course that covers both roles without training the same person twice. This is the course for them. (If those are two different people, take GSC Training — All-Cargo and ISC Training — All-Cargo separately.)

What it covers

• Cargo acceptance and screening — what comes aboard, how it's checked, and when you refuse it
• Authorized persons onboard — who's allowed on an all-cargo aircraft, and under what conditions
• Area and aircraft security — access control, aircraft search and sealing, perimeter integrity
• Security incidents and responses — recognizing and managing threats and disruptive behavior at altitude
• The National Terrorism Advisory System — what the alert levels mean and how TSA gets threat information to you
• Extraordinary locations — heightened procedures for sensitive or high-risk destinations
• The ground-to-air handoff — carrying security responsibility from the ramp to the flight deck
• Twelve-five vs. full all-cargo — the two programs carry different cargo obligations, and we're explicit about which ones are yours

Same structure as the passenger course with the cargo content folded in — one sitting, both designations, one record. Your pilot-coordinator covers the cargo material once instead of twice. Initial and recurrent for both roles, at TFSSP minimum times. The 49 CFR § 1544.205 cargo scoping works the same way here as it does in the standalone all-cargo course — paired with the full ISC syllabus.

One course. Both designations. Scoped to the program you actually run.