Ask an elementary school boy what he wants to be when he grows up, and along with policeman, fireman, rock star, and professional wrestler, you’ll probably get “secret agent” somewhere on that list. Curious kids and adventure-seekers alike want to know, what does it really take to be a secret service agent?
While generic American spy movies tend to glorify the saucy-delinquent-turned-secret-agent image, the U.S. Secret Service actually has stringent requirements on who can qualify for the position, including a squeaky clean record. Other requirements state that applicants must pass a drug screening, a polygraph test, a report writing test, a medical exam, and various levels of background investigation. Any potential agent must also be a United States citizen between the ages of 21 and 37 with either a four-year college degree, three years of experience in law enforcement, or any comparable combination of brains and brawn.
Perhaps surprisingly to anyone who’s never worked for the government, the entire background check process takes from 6 to 9 months to complete; the government checks everything from employment history and police records to neighborhood references.
Even after waiting the better part of a solar year to be marked eligible for employment, however, applicants can’t simply accept a job offer and begin work as an American James Bond. If accepted, new agent trainees are then sent to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia and enrolled in the 10-week Criminal Investigator Training Program. The program gives trainees a general foundation in criminal law and investigative techniques to prepare them for yet more training to follow.
For those who make it through the first course, the next step is 17-week Special Agent Training Course, which focuses on specific Secret Service policies and procedures, at the Secret Service training academy in Laurel, Maryland. During this period, agent trainees undergo advanced application training in various types of financial criminal investigation (including investigation of counterfeit, which was the Secret Service’s primary purpose when it was founded in 1865), emergency medicine, physical protection techniques, marksmanship, and other skills.
After assuming a specific role in the Secret Service – the most notable ones being the special agent, who focuses on fraud investigation and covert protection of major government figures, and the Uniformed Division officer, who serves as part of a specialized police form – agents have the opportunity to spend their career as something like a professional student. Agents receive what the Service calls “continuous advanced training,” including regular firearms requalification, emergency medicine refresher courses, simulated crisis training (think officer testing at the beginning of the new Star Trek movie), and individual development courses on topics like Ethics, Diversity, and Interpersonal Awareness.
Becoming a Secret Service agent requires patience, education, amazing triceps, a clean criminal record, and taking an oath to sacrifice your life to save the President (yes, even if you’re of a different political party). For young, aspiring agents, the Secret Service’s website offers a little encouragement and advice on its “Frequently Asked Questions By Kids” page: “If you are interested in becoming an agent, you should study very hard in school and always abide by the law.”
The original Men in Black
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