
*Qualifications** U.S. citizenship* BA/BS degree at time of appointment* 20 years of age to apply.Candidates must be at least 21 years old but must not have reached their 37th birth date at time of appointment.* If required, registration under the Military Selective Service Act* Successfully undergo written and oral assessment* Successfully undergo a thorough background investigation and qualify for a Top Secret security clearance* Pass a stringent medical exam, be available for worldwide assignment, and qualify for a Department of State Class 01 medical clearance* Pass physical fitness tests and be fit for strenuous physical exertion* Possess a valid U.S. driver's license* Be willing to carry and use firearms and qualify with firearms throughout career* Be willing to travel and accept assignments throughout the world. Officers are required to live and work a substantial portion of their career overseas.* Foreign language ability is desirable, but not mandatory* Successfully complete all aspects of 6-month training The men and women of Diplomatic Security are specially trained federal law enforcement professionals. Diplomatic Security special agents are Foreign Service security officers assigned domestically and overseas to ensure that American diplomacy is conducted in a safe and secure environment. Overseas, they advise ambassadors on all security matters and manage a complex range of security programs designed to protect people, facilities, and information. In the United States, agents investigate passport and visa fraud, conduct personnel security investigations, and protect the Secretary of State and certain foreign dignitaries.*Training: Comprehensive and Specialized*A substantial training investment is made in each candidate selected for this program.Six months of training begin with an orientation period in Washington, DC, followed by basic and specialized training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia. Training continues at State Department facilities in the Washington area. Candidates must pass all required tests at FLETC.Initially, candidates are trained in personal protection techniques, criminal law and investigation, background investigations, first aid, firearms, and defensive driving. To prepare for specific overseas assignments, officers are trained in security management, post operations, counterintelligence, electronic security, and languages. Other instruction includes advanced firearms techniques, explosive devices, ordnance detection, arson investigation, and medical assistance.*First Assignment: Practical Application of the Basics*Special agents are most frequently assigned first to a domestic field office for 2 years. Here, they receive practical experience performing the variety of security functions for which the Bureau of Diplomatic Security is responsible in the United States, including background investigations on personnel, passport and visa fraud investigations, counterintelligence, and other criminal investigations.Domestic assignments also can include protection services for the Secretary of State and certain visiting foreign dignitaries or temporary assignment to an overseas post to perform a specific task.*Overseas Assignment: On to Greater Responsibility*Special agents spend a substantial portion of their careers abroad serving at diplomatic posts. While assigned abroad, special agents are often referred to as regional security officers (RSOs).Overseas assignments offer great opportunity for career growth and usually occur immediately after the initial tour of duty in a domestic field office. Assignment abroad can, however, occur much earlier depending upon needs of the service.At U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, RSOs develop and implement the various aspects of a comprehensive security program designed to protect personnel, property, and information against terrorists, foreign intelligence agents, and criminals.With proven aptitudes and on-the-job performance, a Diplomatic Security special agent may advance to the position of regional security officer, responsible for managing security operations for an embassy or for several diplomatic posts within an assigned area. RSOs work closely with top State Department officials and serve as operational supervisors of U.S. Marine Security Guard detachments.Domestic assignments are equally challenging and rewarding. An officer can aspire to managing field office programs or a Department headquarters office responsible for support operations.*Salary and Benefits*Starting salaries range from $37,413 to $51,788, depending on qualifications, location of assignment, and related specialized experience. Upon successful completion of all training, special agents become eligible for Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP), equal to a 25 percent increase of their base salary. Satisfactory performance earns employees automatic grade and pay increases during the first 3 years. Thereafter, promotions are competitive based on the recommendations of annual selection panels.An excellent benefits package includes:* Group life and health insurance* Annual and sick leave accrual; retirement plan* Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP)* Government-provided quarters or housing allowance overseas* Home leave to the United States between overseas assignments* Rest and recuperation leave, with transportation partially paid, when employees and their dependents are assigned to designated hardship posts* Cost of living allowance* Educational allowance for dependents under certain circumstances* Danger pay at designated posts* Moving expenses for assignments A high level of responsibility, good opportunities for promotion, and an excellent benefits package await you. Make the most of your unique skills and abilities as a Diplomatic Security special agent.
A more complete version of this post can be found in the restricted forums for those that have access. However, since my primary audience is potential DS applicants, here is the original post minus a very small number of comments that some may feel skirt OPSEC issues. Several years ago, one of my colleagues made an outstanding post chronicling his experiences as a new DS agent. Now that a new application period is upon us, I feel it might be useful for potential applicants to hear just what life is like out in the field office. For those of you in the pipeline, hopefully this serves as a source of motivation for you.Much has already been said about the BSAC training program, so I’ll be focusing only on those things that I have experienced since coming to the field office as a sworn agent. I came to the New York Field Office just 7 months ago.One of my first assignments was protecting of foreign ambassadors who had traveled to New York for the Republican National Convention. The group had come to see “democracy in action” and they certainly did – pushing crowds and egg-throwing protestors.Shortly after the RNC, preparations were being made for the United Nations General Assembly. Fortunately, there are a number of good-natured agents in the office who were willing to share their experience with me. I had numerous meetings with reprensatives of the visiting country,. I assisted their staff with scheduling events, ensuring that enough time was given for movement through the congested streets of Manhattan and that security needs could be met. I did a TON of paperwork. I was constantly handling last minute schedule changes, coordinating visits w/ he Secret Service, etc. In the end, the detail went well and it was a total rush. I was glad to have put in so much effort before hand.Not long after UNGA, I was the lead advance for a visiting offical from Europe. Drawing from the lessons I learned during UNGA, I expected things to go off without a hitch. That’s when I learned then how much a nations culture could impact how we conduct security for them. Last minute schedule changes were frequent – sometimes they would change their destination in the middle of a movement - making my life pretty difficult. The lesson there was simple – no two details are ever the same.Many more protective details followed. Though being an advance agent is a good job, I found it was sometimes nice just to work a fixed midnight shift. Standing “halls and walls” might sound boring, but sometimes boring is good.Late in 2004, I was assigned to work on the Secretary of State’s protective detail for about 30 days. My first day down in Washington was the day Powell publicly announced his resignation and press were everywhere. The next thirty days would prove to be interesting. And then on New Year’s Eve, I drove the limo for the Secretary and his wife when he visited the Big Apple at the mayor’s request to drop the Ball in Times Square. I couldn’t believe the responsibility that had been granted to me. I knew Secret Service agents who had been on the job much longer than me who hadn’t seen anything but a stairwell.Later, I would accompany our new Secretary of State to India and South Korea. In India, I fought off a nasty stomach bug and, consequently, missed the opportunity to dine with the rest of the detail in a palace as Dr. Rice was in a meeting. We had the wildest movements in New Delhi where the local police did virtually nothing to control traffic as we sliced through the city. We literally dodged everything from sacred cows, chickens, and rickshaws, to bicyclists with five gallon drums of propane strapped on the back of their bikes. What an experience!Well, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve noticed I haven’t said a word about criminal investigations. It’s no accident. I don’t believe the agency’s philosophy places any greater importance on protection than investigations – both are important. However, when a protection tasking comes down from DC, it must be done. Despite the frequent protection assignments, I’ve had the opportunity to do some interesting things on the investigative side. I’ve lead an investigation into a major conspiracy with multiple defendants; I’ve done surveillance and monitored a a buy; I’ve executed search and arrest warrants. However, these things are the exception, rather than the rule.To sum it up, in the past seven months I’ve seen and done a lot of things many people will never see or do in their lives. I’ve walked the halls of some of the most protected institutions in this country and others; I’ve met prime ministers and foreign ministers from just about every continent; I’ve had dinner in a private dining room with a Vice Prime Minister and his family; I’ve raided a Brooklyn flop-house packed with smuggled men, women, and children; I’ve worked with third world security agents from around the world with bad suits and worse teeth; I’ve found the best hot dog in NYC and am still searching for the best burger; I’ve worked with some of the most dedicated and professional agents in our Government (and one or two real a**holes); I’ve visited four foreign countries and drank some form of alcohol in each that I had never previously heard of (at times to my detriment); and for the first time in my life, I come home almost every night loving my job. Not many days pass where my fellow agents and I don’t look at each other in amazement and ask, “Can you believe we get paid to do this?”DS has been the right choice for me and I can't imagine working for another agency. Sure, there have been times of frustration. Every agency will have its share of frustrations - travel vouchers not paid, poor managers, bureaucracy, conflict with co-workers, etc. Your attitude toward your job is more important than all of those things and will greatly impact your ability to succeed and enjoy the great opportunity you have been offerred.I hope all of you job seekers find the right fit for you. And I hope that some of you hard-chargers out there consider applying to DS when the next vacancy announcement comes out. We've got some tough missions and we need smart, adaptable, eager people to meet those challenges. Slackers need not apply.All the best,Geo