Thread: USSS lateral transfer to military Officer possible?

Hello all. My husband has been a SA with the USSS for over 10 years and we are looking to find an investigative position within the military (AF, Navy, CG...). My question is, is it possible to transfer laterally from an 1811 position to an active duty Military position and retain years in federal service and similar pay scale? Our main objective is to make use of military benefits such as overseas assignments, Housing, schooling (for children), and SA travel that the military offers. Thanks for any insight...

Benefits wise you would take a SERIOUS hit. I am assuming he is a 13. If so he is going to go in as a 2ndLt. It is the same as if a Captain got out and went to USSS. They are going to start him as a 7/9.

Years of federal service would not count towards retirement. There is no pay matching or anything else that would even make it feasible.

Your best bet is to get on with NCIS or AFOSI as a civilian. I have served overseas as an 1811 and the benefits are great. But transferring to an active duty position "laterally" is just not possible.

Originally Posted by LCfly

Hello all. My husband has been a SA with the USSS for over 10 years and we are looking to find an investigative position within the military (AF, Navy, CG...).

As Shamrock noted, you can't "lateral" from an 1811 position to a commissioned military position, at least not that I've heard of. But you say that your husband's main goal is to enter into a military investigative position. As Shamrock also mentioned, civilian positions in the MCIOs (military criminal investigative organizations) abound. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Army CID (fraud investigations) will all offer pretty much exactly what you mentioned, including overseas assignments/benefits and the like. At this point I'm merely echoing what Shamrock stated, but my point is to direct you and your husband to the Federal Law Enforcement Forum on this board. Peruse the active threads and search through the archived threads with search terms like OSI, AFOSI, NCIS, and CID.

I didn't see anyone mention it, but a buddy of mine is a State Department DS Agent (not that his locations have been someplace you'd want to take a family - Kosovo and going to Africa soon). But if you want to go overseas and travel - they would probably be the best bet while retaining your benifits.

Good luck.

Have your husband take a serious look at NCIS. Pay banding is looming, but they are journeyman 13's and a civilian organization top to bottom. NCIS has some USSS alumni that have lateraled over in the past. I know two of them and have met another. Doesn't mean much now, but two directors back was a retired assistant director of USSS, Director Nedro I believe. The "good" cash is made from living overseas for a 3-4 year stint. Housing is free abroad and NCIS will fund a rental management company to rent your stateside house if you own one, and if you choose to keep it. Good luck.

Originally Posted by western warden

Have your husband take a serious look at NCIS. Pay banding is looming, but they are journeyman 13's and a civilian organization top to bottom. NCIS has some USSS alumni that have lateraled over in the past. I know two of them and have met another. Doesn't mean much now, but two directors back was a retired assistant director of USSS, Director Nedro I believe. The "good" cash is made from living overseas for a 3-4 year stint. Housing is free abroad and NCIS will fund a rental management company to rent your stateside house if you own one, and if you choose to keep it. Good luck.

On the Pay Banding Subject... does that mean that NCIS agents will attain a rank equivalent to GS-13 in the same time frame, but they just won't be called GS-13s? When is this going into play?
Also, will my 10 years of active duty count towards NCIS retirement?
Thanks!

As a DOD civilian, I'm sensitive to the word "rank," so lets use the word grade instead, it's more accurate anyway. To be honest, I'm quite suspicious those not already journey 13's (when pay banding occurs) won't attain the same level of pay they otherwise would have using annual grade GS promotions. NCIS is 5 years = GS-13. Using that equation, a non-lateral GS-9 new hire who makes it to GS-11 at year one but is paybanded before further grade increases occur, likely won't be at the same pay level at their five year mark they would have been under the GS scale. That said, using my own fuzzy math, the journey 13's doing accecptable work will likely get better annual pay raises than the occasional step increase or congressional approved raise. Some won't though.

Will your ten years of active duty mil count? Should count in two ways but I'm not an OPM wizard. Very Basic: 1.) Whether you purchase the time back or not it will count toward how much vacation/leave you earn. 10 years puts you in the 6 hour per pay period range. I think it's 14 (or 15) years puts you in the 8 hour range. 2.) Buy your time back (around 3% of total base pay X ten years, but you can choose to buy less years as an option) and it will factor in how much your annunity is worth in the end. You still have to do 20years for law enforcement retirement, but your annunity would be worth 30 years.

For the USSS poster, covered USSS time is a perfect match toward the 20 overall needed for retirement. Likely the same way NCIS time would work toward retirement if someone went from NCIS to USSS.

Again, no wizard here. Opinions only.

I would have your husband check out the AFOSI recruiting webpage on a regular basis. They often post civilian agent positions that are designed for those with experience and wanting to come on at higher grades (usually GS13). A lot of times these are designed/written for military agents separating/retiring who want to come back to the organization as a civilian. With your husband's experience, he can write some good KSAs to match what they are looking for. He should have a pretty good shot.

-OT