Secret Service headquarters: 1800 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20223

To qualify for training as an Secret Service Agent, you must be a U.S. citizen, or a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands, at least 23 and not have reached your 37th birthday on appointment Candidates must have uncorrected vision not worse than 20/200 (Snellen) and corrected 20/20 in one eye and not worse than 20/40 in the other eye. All candidates must pass a color vision test, a hearing test, and a physical/medical exam. Must possess a valid state driver’s license. Must pass an extensive background investigation. Candidates must have a bachelor's degree or a minimum of 3 years' work experience.

This educational background is represented by: PS: (prior background) 11-.

Prospective special agents receive twelve weeks of general investigative training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia and twelve weeks of specialized instruction at the Special Agent Training Center, Beltsville, MD (the length of these courses has been increased gradually over the last decade or so; was 8 weeks + 11 weeks for a long time). Skills gained by graduates include:

Paramedic 11-

Forensics/Criminology 11-

Tactics 8-

 

Bureaucracy 11-

Interrogation/Interviewing 8-

PS: Law Enforcement 11-

PS: Protection 11-

WF: small arms

‘martial arts’ grapple, hold, restrain, retain/disarm wpn.

 

KS: criminal law 8-

Security Systems 8-

Bugging/Surveillance 8-

Streetwise 8-

Driving 11-

OCV 5 with pistol

 

OCV 3 with other small arms

 

Upon completion of this program, graduates receive Special Agent credentials, Classroom study is supplemented by 1 year of on-the-job training, monitored by veteran agents. New agents will be assigned to a field office, and should expect to spend at least four years in this initial assignment. After the initial assignment, agents may apply for transfers to other offices, or to various specialized divisions.

USSS agents enter service as GS grade 10 and can rise as high as GS 13 in field non-supervisory positions; most are GS 12. Supervisory, management, executive and senior executive positions within the Secret Service are mostly GS 14 to GS 15. USSS agents qualify for availability pay.

The Secret Service protects the President and Vice President and their families, candidates for those offices, former Presidents and their families, and visiting heads of foreign states and governments; furnishes physical security for the White House, the Main Treasury Building, and foreign embassies and missions in Washington, D.C.; enforces laws against counterfeiting currency, coins, or securities of the United States; enforces laws against fraud or forgery of Government checks or bonds, and other securities and obligations of the United States; investigates credit and debit card fraud, computer fraud (including ATM machines, computer chips in car phones, PIN numbers), electronic fund transfer fraud, and fraudulent use or counterfeiting of certain government identification.

In 2003 the Secret Service was transferred from the Treasury Department to the new Department of Homeland Security.