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DSS - 7 months in the field office (part2)
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
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