What job requires you to pass an incredibly rigorous physical test,
get flipped in a car, and breath in tear gas? The answer is the Secret Service,
and that’s just some of the crazy stuff that happens in Secret Service boot camp.
What is the training like for the most elite agents in the United States? Let’s find out.
The Secret Service was founded in 1865 as a way to combat counterfeiting of U.S. currency. Since
then, the agents of the Secret Service have had one of the most important responsibilities in the
country thrust upon them: protecting the president at all costs. This top priority mission was given
to the Secret Service after the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley, and remains one of
the main responsibilities of the agency today. They are also responsible for the protection of
many other people of importance, but the president still remains number one on their protection list.
The vetting process to even be accepted into Secret Service training is incredibly hard to
get through. Applicants must pass an in-depth background check, obtain top-secret clearance,
and take a polygraph test. This is often cited by recruits as one
of the most difficult parts of the application process,
because they are asked to dive deep into some of their most intimate secrets.
And all of that is just to be accepted into the training program. Only 1% of applicants
are accepted into Secret Service boot camp. This means that of the approximately 27,000
applicants that apply each year, only 270 are allowed to begin training. And
an even smaller percentage of that group makes it through the training itself.
Once accepted, boot camp begins, and this is where things get really crazy.
If the recruit makes it past all of the initial screenings and tests,
they get sent to the United States Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center in
Prince George's County, Maryland. It is here that boot camp will begin. Each day
the agents in training are reminded that the job required of them is a zero-fail mission.
This means that they can never have a bad day, they can never make a mistake,
and they must always be willing to put their lives on the line. If just a single thing goes
wrong on the Secret Service’s watch, it could change the country, or even the world forever.
The first part of Secret Service boot camp focuses around the physical evaluation. The
applicant's bodies are put to the test. In order to be a Secret Service agent you have to be in
top physical condition. An assassin or terrorist doesn’t care if a Secret Service agent is tired or
winded. Therefore, if a trainee can’t pass the physical, they cannot continue the boot camp.
The physical test itself combines a series of athletic activities. The main focuses are around
push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, and a mile and a half run. All of these exercises must be done to the
highest of standards. Interestingly, there are no uniform numbers that an applicant must reach
in order to successfully pass the physical fitness test. The test is based on a points system,
which is adjusted based on each individual recruit. For example, the amount of push-ups and
the time of the run are going to be different for a younger trainee than an older one.
Also, around 25% of Secret Service agents are females. They train with
the male recruits and have to complete all of the same tests that the men do,
but for the physical fitness test numbers are adjusted to take age as well as gender
into consideration. So, if you are training to become a Secret Service agent keep in mind
you may be required to do more, or less, than other applicants based on who you are.
It is also important to note that in boot camp the physical fitness test is where most of the
trainees drop out or are rejected. But even if an applicant passes the physical fitness test,
they are still required to be retested every few months to make sure they remain in top physical
condition. In terms of the physical fitness aspect of boot camp it never really ends,
even if someone becomes an agent. Imagine being physically tested every few months
for your entire career. That’s what it takes to be in the Secret Service
As boot camp continues, what is required of the trainees gets harder and harder to
the point where they literally are crashing into one another.
Secret Service agents need to be proficient in hand to hand combat, so there is a lot of
fighting skills training. However, in boot camp agents need to be trained never to run away.
They need to be able to attack an opponent head on. This is where “crash intercept” training
comes in. It is when trainees literally run full speed into one another. One recruit is
trying to get past the other, so they are colliding and fighting to come out on top.
The reason for this exercise early on in Secret Service boot camp
is to try and completely remove the natural human instinct to flee an oncoming object.
By practicing stopping a human running towards them, trainees are conditioning their bodies
to be able to step in the way of danger at a moment's notice, even if it costs them their life.
It should come as no surprise that Secret Service boot camp also requires trainees to prove
proficiency and accuracy with firearms. But the extent to which they need to train is shocking.
The agents in training must show proficiency in Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns,
Remington 870 shotguns, and a Sig Sauer P229 pistol. That being said,
the weapons of choice for the Secret Service do change over time,
so trainees must always be expanding their knowledge on firearms during and after boot camp.
The amount of practice a trainee receives is initially the same.
Everyone must complete a 104 hour course that teaches everything from the basics,
to navigating complex situations that will test every applicant's abilities and decision making.
Regardless of background before coming into the Secret Service,
each trainee must pass a number of rigorous tests. This is because the firearm expectations of Secret
Service agents tends to be much higher than other forms of law enforcement or even the military.
This includes dynamic firing training on different courses at the facility.
Trainees have to show proficiency in hitting targets while moving
and setting up behind a series of barriers. Not only are instructors looking for accuracy,
but also how a trainee interacts with their surroundings. If they are accurate, but do
not utilize cover or take into consideration other things going on in the environment like civilians,
they will have to receive more training, or could be dropped from the program. Firearms are no
joke, and Secret Service boot camp requires trainees to be beyond proficient to move on.
You may have heard of The Beast, which is the name given to the armored limousine that the
president travels in. Although not every Secret Service agent will drive The Beast,
all agents are required to be able to master certain driving skills in boot camp.
If Secret Service agents need to get the president, or anyone else they are protecting,
out of a bad situation quickly, they need to know how to handle several different vehicles. The boot
camp training around vehicle driving requires trainees to start with smaller vehicles like
sedans and work their way up to heavier vehicles like SUVs. The heaviest of all is The Beast,
but only a select few recruits will ever get behind the wheel of this monster.
Regardless of the vehicle, the trainee must show they can handle complex maneuvers like
J-turns and offensive driving tactics. This is particularly important if a motorcade is attacked
and the Secret Service agents need to get away from a location quickly.
Therefore, high speed training is also required, and in worst case scenarios,
the agents need to know what it's like to be in a car that has been flipped over.
This training is not done in an actual car, but in a simulation.
Recruits are put into a rollover simulator and the whole contraption is spun upside down
several times to simulate a flipping car. The trainees also need to know what it feels like
if the car lands upside down, which is also accomplished in the rollover simulator. The
vehicle training in boot camp isn’t just about driving, it's also about crashing.
And cars are not the only vehicles that recruits need to show proficiency in escaping from.
In water based scenarios trainees need to escape from an apparatus that simulates
being trapped underwater in a flipped helicopter. This scenario is unlikely
to happen in real life, but still necessary in order for a recruit to pass boot camp.
Secret Service boot camp is also about creating discipline and breaking bad habits.
Something you may take for granted could be a cause for severe punishment while in training.
For example, in one training session several agents forgot to push in their chairs after a
class. This lack of attention to detail caused the rest of the week to be filled with extra
physical activities to remind trainees to make sure they never miss a detail,
no matter how small. The instructor even warned them not to make plans that Friday
because they would definitely not be getting out on time.
Secret Service boot camp is not just about physical fitness, but mental fortitude as well.
Secret Service agents need to be the best of the best and boot camp ensures
only the smartest, most physically fit, and observant make it through.
Many of the aspects of Secret Service boot camp are unknown to the public.
This is for obvious reasons, such as not wanting enemies to know what the agents
are trained to do in certain situations. An example of this is that recruits must
complete training involving situations that the president, or other people of importance,
might find themselves in. In the president's case this could be on Air Force One.
Unlike Harrison Ford in the movie Air Force One,
most presidents are not expected to fight off a group of terrorists on the plane. Therefore,
Secret Service agents must be trained to protect everyone on board if the jet is infiltrated.
One way this training occurs is within an exact replica of Air Force One. This
has been built at the Secret Service training facility so new recruits, and current agents,
can practice worst case scenarios. There are also replica rooms of the White House that are
at the facility for trainees to practice in before being sent to the real thing
One surprising aspect of Secret Service boot camp is that trainees actually play video games.
Now to be fair this isn’t Call of Duty, they are simulations that play out on
a video screen. The recruits have to make split second decisions in each situation.
They are judged on how quickly and efficiently they can respond to certain threats that come
across the screen. If reaction time is too slow, or the decisions that the recruit makes in the
simulation are inadequate, it may cost them their spot in the Secret Service.
Recruits repeatedly mention one part of Secret Service boot camp as being the worst. This is
the training they receive around tear gas. In order to pass through boot camp, each agent
must be exposed to the highly irritating and uncomfortable substance. They are brought into
a gas chamber where they have to maintain their composure as the room fills with tear gas. It is
necessary for Secret Service agents to be able to function even in the most terrible circumstance,
and it doesn't get much worse than being stuck in a room full of tear gas.
It is important to keep in mind that just like with any elite training the instructors at Secret
Service boot camp aren’t trying to look for reasons to admit a recruit into the agency, but
instead are looking for reasons they shouldn’t be accepted. Only the best can become Secret Service
agents because it is one of the most dangerous and important jobs in the entire country.
Now watch “The INSANE Protection Of The President of the United States.”
Or check out “Day in the Life of a Secret Service Agent.”