In a town the size of Gilmer, the security work that actually pays is usually the armed work. So let’s talk about how you get there honestly: starting with the class that comes first, which is not the armed one.

Starting From Upshur County

Gilmer is not a metro, and pretending otherwise does nobody any favors. The security postings around here are thinner on the ground than they are an hour west, and a good share of them come from the oil and gas service yards, the timber and manufacturing operations scattered through the piney woods, the school district, the county buildings and the medical clinics. Some are genuinely local. Others mean a drive toward Longview or Tyler, where the hospital systems and the industrial contracts concentrate.

In that kind of market, the commissioned officers are the ones companies compete for. Which is why so many people from small East Texas towns come to this looking for the armed credential and find themselves asked about a class they had never heard of.

First Class, and It Is an Unarmed One

Level 2 is the entry-level, unarmed security course in Texas. Under 37 TAC §35.141(a)(1), it has to be completed by anyone applying for a non-commissioned security officer license, and it is also the required first step toward a security officer commission. That second half is the part people miss.

Be clear-eyed about what you are signing up for. There is no firearms training and no firearms qualification in Level 2. No range time, no weapon handling, nothing about carrying on duty. It does not on its own let you work an armed post, and it does not on its own produce a commission. What it does is put the legal and ethical foundation under you before anything else gets added. Texas security law, the professional responsibilities of a security officer, emergency procedures, and ethics, from material prepared or approved by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

If you want the armed credential, this is not a hoop. It is the half of the job that gets officers into trouble when they skipped it.

Hang On to That Certificate. You Need It Twice

When you finish, you receive a certificate of completion, on this site it is referred to as PSP 36, and it has to be submitted with your license application. That is use number one. Use number two comes later, and it catches people out: under §35.81(a), a security officer commission application must be accompanied by both the Level 2 and the Level 3 certificates of completion.

Both. Meaning the certificate from the very first class you ever take is still a live document on the day you apply to carry. Put a copy in your email, on your phone and in a folder at the house. It is a small habit that prevents a genuinely frustrating delay a year or two down the road. The rule text is public if you want to see it in full. It is in 37 TAC Chapter 35.

A School in Your Own Corner of the State

East Texas Security Training Academy is based in this part of the state rather than in a metro, which is a small thing that matters when you live in a town where most training means a drive. In practice it matters less than it used to, because the Level 2 class runs 100% online. From a kitchen table in Gilmer, on your own hours, with no mileage and no day off work.

One more wrinkle worth knowing in a small-town market where a lot of employers are small operators: Level 2 may be taught either by the licensee’s own designated person or by a DPS-approved school with a DPS-approved instructor (§35.141(a)(1), §35.142, §35.143). Level 3 has no in-house option whatsoever. So if a local company offers to walk you through Level 2 themselves, that can be entirely legitimate, but the commission course will always come from an approved school, and you still need to leave with that Level 2 certificate in hand.

Nothing to Chase in the Meantime

While you are working non-commissioned, §35.161(b) specifically exempts noncommissioned security officers from continuing education requirements. There is no recurring class to keep up with at this stage. That only begins once you are commissioned, at which point the renewal course becomes the thing you schedule around.

The Honest Version of the Plan

Take Level 2. Work unarmed posts around Upshur County or down the highway while you build a record and a reference. Then step up to the Level 3 commissioned officer course and file the commission application with both certificates attached. It is a real ladder with real rungs, not a formality, and it is completely walkable from a small East Texas town. Our FAQ page covers the questions people call about, and the class list lays out every course in order.