CAREERS WITH

GOVERNMENT SECURITY
AND

INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
Research Number 218
ISBN 1-58511-218-6

CAREERS WITH GOVERNMENT

SECURITY AND
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
F. B. I. Federal Bureau of Investigation

C. I. A. Central Intelligence Agency

Secret Service, Defense Intelligence Agency, National

Security Agency, Bureau of Diplomatic Security

GREAT VARIETY OF CAREER CHOICES PROTECTING

OUR NATION AND THE WORLD
EVER SINCE THE FIRST PEOPLE ORGANIZED THE FIRST GOVERNMENT TO REGULATE
life and protect others, there has been a need for government security. In
the United States, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI), as well as the Secret Service, are probably the most
familiar names of governmental security organizations.
What you may not know is that there are many other organizations in
this country that help protect the individuals that run the government, as
well as all citizens of the United States.
Here is a partial list:
Air Force Technical Applications Center
American Academy of Forensic Sciences
American Board of Criminalists
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
Army Intelligence Agency
Army Intelligence and Security Command
Bureau of Intelligence & Research [State Department]
California Association of Criminalists

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 Central Intelligence Agency
Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office
Defense HUMINT
Defense Intelligence Agency
Foreign Science & Technology Center [Army]
Intelligence and Threat Analysis Center [Army]
International Association of Forensic Sciences
Marine Corps Intelligence
Mid-Atlantic Association of Forensic Scientists
Midwest Association of Forensic Scientists, Inc.
National Air Intelligence Center
National Imagery & Mapping Office
National Reconnaissance Office
National Security Agency
National Security Division of the FBI Office of Intelligence & Drug
Enforcement Administration
Naval Maritime Intelligence Center
Naval Security Group Command
Northeastern Association of Forensic Sciences
Northwest Association of Forensic Sciences
Office of Asst. Chief of Staff, Intelligence [Air Force]
Office of Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence [Army]
Office of Energy Intelligence (Special Projects) Division
[Department of Energy]
Office of Intelligence & Security
Office of Intelligence Center [Treasury Department]
Office of Intelligence Liaison
Office of Export Enforcement
Office of Naval Intelligence
Southern Association of Forensic Scientists
Some of these organizations are affiliated with branches of the
military, while others are connected to other branches of government; the
Secret Service, for example, is actually part of the US Department of
Treasury.
Each security organization has a different focus. CIA employees, for
instance, protect the US government by controlling what other nations

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know about us, and by learning as much as they can about these other
nations.
The FBI, on the other hand, is not as concerned with the government
itself as it is about the crimes that victimize ordinary people every day.
Special Agents of the FBI investigate these crimes and then provide the
proper authorities with the evidence they’ve gathered.
Secret Service Agents, whose main task is to protect presidential
candidates, current and past Presidents, and the Vice President, also
conduct investigations. They keep an eye on individuals and organizations
who seem to pose a threat to the President, and also – as agents of the US
Treasury – investigate counterfeiting.
There is more to government security than spying or gathering
fingerprints, though. There are a number of varied opportunities for
individuals interested in this field. These include:
Code-breaking
Linguists
Geographers
Psychologists
Chemists
Engineers
Nurses
Accountants
College students (interns)
Most positions require college degrees in specific fields (law, for
instance). It is usually helpful to bring extensive education and job
experience to the field, but most of the organizations provide job training
once you are hired – or require you to complete a training program before
you can be hired (would-be Special Agents must successfully complete the
FBI’s training program, for example).
In this report you will learn about different areas of government
security, general requirements to work in the field, and what you can do
to best prepare yourself for a job in a security organization like the FBI or
CIA. You will read about individuals’ experiences in different areas of the
field, and find out what characteristics you might have that suit you for a
career in government security or as a criminalist.
Do you have a future in this field? Read on, and decide for yourself!

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WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
IF YOU WANT TO BE AN INVESTIGATOR OR CRIMINALIST, THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS
YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW:

Practice your observational skills by looking at a room, a scene, or a

person for two minutes (time yourself), then go into another room and
write down everything you observed. Return to the scene or person and
take another good look. What did you notice? What didn’t you spot?

Read about a variety of topics, including

autobiographies and memoirs by former investigators.
Call your local police station and ask if they need volunteers or
interns in their crime lab, or if any lab technicians or criminalists would be
willing to talk to you about their careers.
Many characteristics help to qualify an individual to become an FBI
agent, a CIA investigator, or a criminalist who works for another law
enforcement agency, but one of the most important is a fully-developed
sense of observation. The first step in any investigation is observation of
the crime scene. When you enter a room or a building, what do you
notice? After you leave, what do you remember having seen?
Be a person who is interested in a lot of different things. An important
qualification for investigators is a broad base of knowledge. No one
person can know everything about everything, but good investigators
know something about a lot of topics. They use this knowledge to
determine that one of those topics – building a bomb, breaking into a
building, vandalism – is one that needs to be explored more deeply for a
certain case, and they can turn to experts in the field for the precise,
detailed information they need.
A good way to determine if you are qualified for this field is to talk to
someone who is already in it. What does that individual enjoy about the
work? What advice can that person offer you? Is there an opening in a
local crime lab for an intern or volunteer? If there is, you can get some
first-hand experience and really decide if this career is the one for you.

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GOVERNMENT SECURITY: A HISTORY
GOVERNMENTS ARE ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT PEOPLE, AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT
thoroughly, the governments themselves must be protected from harmful
individuals, groups, and other governments. Whether that security takes
the form of cryptography (encoding important messages so the enemy
can’t read them), personal body-guards for heads of state, or larger
organizations like the FBI or CIA, the goal is always the same: to run the
government safely, and to keep important information and people out of
the enemies’ hands.
Though many US security and intelligence organizations are less than
100 years old, the tools of their trade date back millennia. Ancient Greeks
and Romans were among the first people to make use of codes. Polybius,
an ancient Greek writer, drew a 5 by 5 square matrix which explained how
different two-digit numbers could substitute for each letter of the
alphabet. Roman emperor Julius Caesar used “shift ciphers” when he had
to send secret government messages. In a shift cipher, the sender and the
receiver choose a number – for example, 7 – and then they shift the
alphabet that many letters to encode a
message. The letter A, for example, in a
shift code using the number 7, would be
“Terrorism”
represented by the 7th letter away from it: has an additional
H. meaning for us today.
Espionage has been around since the The early 20th century
first government wanted to gain control efforts of Adolf Hitler
over land ruled by another government. and Joseph Stalin to
Spies like Mata Hari and the fictional eliminate entire groups
James Bond have become famous
subjects of adventure stories, but spies of people can be seen
are more than seductive jet-setters. They as political terrorism,
discover vital information. as can bombings that
In the Civil War, for example, spies the Irish Republican
played a central role in helping the Union Army has committed to
to defeat the Confederacy. One of the draw attention to its
better known spies of the period was
“Frank Thompson” (interestingly, “he” desire for Ireland’s
was actually a woman). Thompson freedom from British
disguised himself as a slave, entered rule. Both the CIA and
“enemy territory,” and was able to make the FBI may investigate
sketches of Southern encampments and
even to identify a Confederate spy. Later
terrorist threats.

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he managed to steal General Stonewall Jackson’s battle plans, which – if
they had been successfully followed – could have brought about the
capture of Washington, DC.
F B I But when most Americans think about government security, they
think of two organizations: the FBI and the CIA. The FBI was established
first. It got its start July 26, 1908, when an executive order created a
Bureau of Investigation that would be under the jurisdiction of the US
Attorney General. Later this organization was named the Division of
Investigation, and in 1935, the name was changed to the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.

C I A The CIA was created in 1947, when President Truman signed the
National Security Act. This act gave the Director of Central Intelligence
(DCI) the responsibility of coordinating the nation’s intelligence activities
(protecting information about the US government, and gathering
information about forei..gn governments) and analyzing and channeling
to proper parties intelligence that affects national security.
Though many people believe that the FBI and the CIA are
organizations that do similar work, each has a very different mission. The
FBI is authorized to investigate all federal crimes that have not been
assigned, by Congress, to another federal agency. These crimes cover a
very broad spectrum, from civil rights violations to financial crime, from
organized crime to counterterrorism. The FBI investigates these crimes and
then turns the information over to a US Attorney or Department of Justice
official, who decides whether to pursue the case in a court of law, or let
the matter drop.
The CIA works specifically with those who make and execute national
security policy. The organization’s task is two-fold. First, it conducts
“counterintelligence” activities to learn about foreign intelligence and to
protect national security, as directed by the President. Second, it provides
comprehensive and accurate foreign intelligence that pertains to national
security, protects government secrets, and fights terrorism.
We sometimes think of terrorism as a contemporary problem, but
actually the term – which refers to acts or threats of violence designed to
intimidate opponents or to publicize grievances – dates back to the Reign
of Terror in 1793, during the French Revolution. During the Reign of Terror,
the ruling faction (which had overthrown the monarchy and declared
France a republic) ruthlessly executed all those it deemed political enemies.
In the last six weeks of the Terror, 1400 people were guillotined in Paris
alone.

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Secret Service The Secret Service is another well-known security
agency, about which there are many misconceptions. Today many people
believe the sole task of Secret Service Agents is to protect the President
from harm, but when it began in 1865, its sole task was to suppress the
counterfeiting of currency – a job that remains high on the Secret Service’s
list of priorities today. Just two years after its inception, the duties of the
United States Secret Service were expanded to include “detecting persons
perpetrating frauds against the government.”
It wasn’t until 1902 that the Secret Service assumed responsibility for
protection of the President. The Secret Service Uniformed Division,
established in 1922 (then called the White House Police Force), is under
the authority of the Secret Service, and its duties include protecting
diplomatic missions in the Washington, DC, area.
Defense Intelligence Agency There are many other national
security organizations in the United States that are probably unfamiliar to
you. Established in 1961, the Defense Intelligence Agency provides military
intelligence to all those who fight in wars conducted by the United States,
no matter which branch of the military they are in, as well as to the
decision-makers and policy-makers of the US Department of Defense and
the US Government.

National Security Agency The decades-old National Security

Agency protects US informational systems and produces foreign
intelligence information; its focus is on cryptology, foreign languages, data
processing, and other methods of communication.

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security Established within the

Department of State in 1986, its responsibilities now include all security
concerns of life overseas for US government and military personnel, at
home, at work, and at school. Nowadays American government officials
and American facilities overseas, often victims of mob violence, terrorism,
criminal acts, and espionage, require more security.
Many other US security organizations were established early in the
20 century, responding to a growing concern for safety of the
th

government’s staff and the nation’s leaders. You can find more
information about many of these organizations by clicking on the links
you’ll find at www.gksoft.com/govt/en/us.html.

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WHERE YOU WILL WORK
INVESTIGATORS AND MEMBERS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY HAVE A WIDE
variety of jobs to choose from, and once they have selected the job they
want, there is a variety of places where they could work.
New FBI Special Agents are assigned to a field office in the United
States based on the staffing needs of the agency, as well as on the
preferences of the agent. CIA agents can be given assignments virtually
anywhere across the globe. Travel may be an important part of a national
security agent’s career; they have to go where the assignment is, where
the crime has been committed, or where information needs to be
gathered.
A criminalist – someone who applies science to the law — who does
not work for the FBI or CIA is virtually unlimited in the choice of job
locations. A criminalist could work for a law enforcement agency like a
police department or sheriff’s office. An investigator could even be a
private detective who is hired on a case-by-case basis by individuals who
want to know the location of a runaway, or what really caused the death
of a family member. In that case, you can work wherever you live, either in
a home office or in a rented office nearby. (For more information about
the field of criminalistics: www.criminalistics.com.)
For criminalists who are employed by another agency, however, it is
not the location of their office that is relevant, but the location of the
crime, the victims, and the witnesses. An FBI Special Agent does not stay in
Washington, DC just because the bureau headquarters are there. If the
agent gets a clue that the criminal left for Europe or a South Pacific Island,
then that agent hops on a plane to follow and apprehend the criminal.
Likewise, CIA agents don’t remain constantly at the agency’s headquarters
in Langley, Virginia.
Many individuals work in the field of national security, but are not
employed by the FBI or CIA. These individuals may work for the Office of
Counter-Terrorism, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, or one of several
other agencies, and may be based in Washington, DC, or they may be
stationed at a US embassy in a foreign country. (The United States has
more than 150 embassies throughout the world.)
Most national security and intelligence agencies are headquartered in
Washington, DC or the surrounding area, but just like FBI and CIA agents,
investigators from these agencies must travel to the scene of the crime –
whether it’s already occurred, or must be prevented.

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WHAT YOU WILL DO IN YOUR WORK
WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK OF JOBS IN THE FIELD OF GOVERNMENT SECURITY, they
think of spies trying to learn other governments’ secrets, or of FBI agents
investigating major crimes; but the really exciting thing about the field is
that, specialized as it is, it offers opportunities for almost everyone.
In recent years, those opportunities seem to have increased as
national security organizations struggle to find competent staff in
specialized areas. In one recent year, for instance, the CIA only managed to
hire fewer than 15 percent of the computer specialists, 65 percent of the
engineers, and 85 percent of the linguists it sought to fill the need for new
specialists in these fields.
Some individuals turn to government security as a second career
because they desire a greater challenge and they want to feel like they are
making a difference that can benefit their fellow Americans. Others started
out in a police-related field before moving into national security because
they needed job experience in another field before they could achieve their
actual career goal, working for the FBI, the CIA, or one of the other US
security organizations.
These people bring to their careers degrees in related fields such as
criminal or police science, law, accounting, medicine, psychology, or
computer science. They use the skills and knowledge they have acquired in
college and refined on the job.
Some of the individuals recruited by these organizations may surprise
you. Did you know, for instance, that geographers are in demand at many
security organizations? Government security organizations need people
who can read various types of maps (including those generated by
satellites), and who can use their knowledge of the earth, its countries,
and its waters, to help them successfully carry out missions. The National
Imagery and Mapping Office, a US security organization, is one that
employs a large number of geographers.
Other security organizations are affiliated with various branches of the
government or the military (the Secret Service with the US Department of
Treasury, for example). The Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Air
Force each have their own security organizations.
Various governmental departments also have individual security
organizations, and some departments have several. The US Department of
Defense is home to a number of security organizations, including the

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National Mapping and Imagery Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency,
and the National Security Agency.
The US Department of State also has a number of security and
intelligence organizations in its jurisdiction. Among these are the Bureau
of Diplomatic Security and the Office for Counterterrorism.
Computer skills are becoming more and more important in just about
every field, and national security is no exception; the CIA even has a new
office of Advanced Analytic Tools for its computer scientists. In older novels
and movies, spies often tried to intercept notes, then de-code them to
learn vital secret information about other governments – or what those
governments had learned about the plans of the US government. Code
deciphering and message interception still play a vital role in what various
organizations do to maintain a high level of national security, but now
those messages are transmitted via computer or satellite. Intercepting
them and then deciphering them requires more than just being at the
right place at the right time. It requires a knowledge of the workings of
computers and satellites, and the ability to use those tools. It may also
require knowledge of a foreign language.
Some national security staff have fairly typical “office jobs,” working at
computers for much of the day. (It is only what they do at these computers
– intercepting messages and signals from other governments and
international spies — that is not very typical!)
Other individuals study and design maps. On-staff psychologists may
work with national security specialists as a sounding board they can
confide in about the pressures of their jobs, or they may interview suspects
and victims to try to glean more information about a crime.
It is important for agents to have a certain level of technological ability
– being able to manipulate various computer programs, for instance; but
for some national security agents, a much higher level of technological
know-how is required.
The CIA, for instance, hires chemical engineers and chemists to work
for the agency in a number of capacities, particularly in researching current
chemical warfare developments and methods used by foreign terrorist
groups, and in researching methods to combat those developments.
Obviously, those who fill these positions must have an extensive scientific
and technical knowledge to work from.
The FBI doesn’t only investigate violent crimes. The Bureau is focusing
more than ever on white-collar crimes, like insurance fraud, which can

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require investigators to have a strong knowledge of accounting or
bookkeeping.
DNA testing provides another good example of the depth of high-tech
know-how that can be required by national security staff. DNA is short for
deoxyribonucleic acid, and it is the genetic information found in the cells
of all living things; this information “tells” cells whether they should form a
hard fingernail or soft skin, whether together the cells should become
male or female, animal or human.
Each human being has a completely unique DNA. Contained in blood,
semen, and other bodily secretions, DNA can be isolated and tested to
determine the identity of the person who lost the blood or the other
secretions. The FBI and some state governments have been compiling DNA
samples from individuals who have been arrested for committing crimes,
but typically a law enforcement agency compares DNA from an unknown
suspect against a large database of individuals whose DNA is known. They
hope to find a match, and then to make an arrest.
There are also tests that can be done to find out if certain secretions
are present at the scene of a crime. Those secretions can then undergo
DNA testing and perhaps identify the criminal. Semen can be detected by
ultraviolet light sometimes, but a more thorough method of testing uses
MUP (methyl umbelliferyl phosphate), which reacts with the enzymes in
the semen, causing it to glow when placed under an ultraviolet light.
Saliva can be similarly uncovered by using pieces of absorbent paper that
have been pretreated with starch and then dampened. The paper is laid
over the area to be “mapped,” and the enzymes from the saliva – if it is,
indeed, present – dissolve into the paper, which is then sprayed with
iodine. The iodine turns the entire sheet of paper blue, except where saliva
is present.
These are tests that are conducted in a laboratory situation, using
evidence that has been collected at a crime scene, and they require a
certain level of scientific background before they can be conducted.
Interpreting information from, for instance, a DNA sample, can require an
even more extensive background in the sciences.
And who collects the evidence to be tested in the lab? The agents in
“the field.” If you’ve ever seen a movie about an FBI agent or a CIA
investigation, you already know that the agents travel often, and fast, to
get to the scene of the crime, or to trail fugitives of justice. You know how
your local police respond to emergency calls by driving out to the scene,
where they can apprehend suspects and make on-the-spot investigations,
search for and find clues. In the same way, investigators who work for

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national security organizations have to travel to get to the scene of the
crime. The difference is that local police rarely, if ever, leave the state –
much less the country – on an investigation. For national security agents,
such travel goes with the territory.
Investigations can take many forms. FBI Special Agents may
investigate the bloody scene of a violent crime, interview neighbors and
witnesses, and gather evidence to try to catch a murderer. While FBI
agents conduct interviews and simply ask the questions that will give them
the information they need, a CIA agent trying to discover top-secret
information about another government may need to pry information out
of an interview subject almost without that subject realizing that’s what’s
happening. Secrecy is all-important for those who work undercover, and in
order to remain undercover, even an interview to gather information must
be carefully conducted.

You could say that the ideal spy should have a sort
of “split personality.” The ideal spy would be one who
would have a great store of knowledge on which to
draw, but perhaps even more importantly, could
socialize with the very people that were being spied on –
and speak their language.

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 NATIONAL SECURITY SPECIALISTS TELL
YOU ABOUT THEIR WORK

My Company Does Computer

Analysis of Intelligence Data for the
CIA “I never expected to be working in national
security, but as so often happens, one thing just led to another.
One of my first jobs was working for a camera company, just
doing “gopher” work in the office. But later, when I went to
college, I found that my experience with that company really
focused my interest in optics. I got a degree in physics and landed
a job in an optics lab.
I stuck with this job for a number of years, gradually moving
up the ladder until I was running the company, but all the while I
continued to take additional courses at night school. I enjoyed my
work, but knew that eventually I would need a greater challenge. I
prepared myself for that challenge by taking classes in computer
science and business administration.
And I put those classes to use when I left the camera
company to start my own company, which eventually was a
contractor to many large agencies, including the Central
Intelligence Agency and some intelligence agencies in the
Department of Defense. My company’s specialty was software
development, computer scenario generation, and systems
engineering, and at first I was surprised how much in demand
those services were by national security organizations.
I always thought of the CIA as secret agents who just kind of
hung around foreign embassies and eavesdropped on other
people’s conversations – but it’s far more high-tech than I ever
imagined. In fact, SIGINT (signal intelligence), MASINT (magnetic
imagery) and IMINT (imagery intelligence) are more important
than ever. These areas of expertise require people who have the
expertise not only to gather data, but also to interpret it.
I found that I really had the right skills for this kind of work. I
had always been a long-range planner, and always implemented
my plans. I also have excellent analytic skills that allow me to
analyze imagery and gather information.

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 I ran this company for about 20 years, and then began to
think about retirement. It’s a great career, although sometimes the
pressure and internal competition are almost too much to handle.
It’s a lot of fun to always be dealing with such smart colleagues,
though. I never had to complain that the people I worked for
didn’t know what they were doing.
The earnings were also very good. At my highest point,
running this corporation, I was earning well over $100,000 a year.
But I was tired of not being able to tell my family about the huge
projects I got to work on, which were always top secret.
I retired about two years ago, but I still act as a consultant for
the company I established. I’m glad to keep my foot in the door,
so to speak, because I really do love the work.
After being involved with the intelligence community, I can
say I was definitely in the right field – but being retired now, I can
also say that a lot of weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

I Am a Forensic Scientist for the

FBI “In high school I always got my best grades
in math and science, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do
for a career. I knew I didn’t want to just sit behind a desk, though.
I knew I would need something to hold my interest, something
that wouldn’t be just the same old thing day after day.
My senior year I went to a job fair at a local university. Lots of
different professionals spoke about their careers. One of the
speakers was a forensic scientist who worked for my city’s police
department.
She told us about her job, how she went out to crime scenes
and looked at murder victims’ bodies, how she examined the way
blood splatters looked and what she learned from that, how she
tried to determine the body size, gender, and age of the murderer.
She showed us slides, and I guess a lot of them were pretty gory,
because people kept leaving the room, and they didn’t come back.
But I thought it was fascinating, and it certainly didn’t sound
boring!

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 When I enrolled in college the next year, I started loading up
on science courses, and I made sure my counselor knew what field
I was interested in. I was lucky enough to be able to intern with a
local law enforcement agency, so I really got a good idea of what
being a criminalist is all about. And despite all the violence and all
the gore I saw, I was still interested in the career. I really believe it
takes a certain kind of person to do this job. You have to have
empathy for the victim, as well as for the criminal, to help you
figure out why someone committed the crime – but you also have
to be able to maintain a distance from the crime, or else it can just
be overwhelmingly emotional.
After I earned my undergraduate degree in biology, I enrolled
in graduate school to earn a master’s degree in forensic science. I
specialized in forensic biology, and learned a lot about DNA, the
genetic material that makes each person unique, how to perform
DNA tests, and how to determine the identity of an unknown
suspect by the results of those tests. I also worked part time at
another local law enforcement agency, assisting the staff forensic
scientists, until I earned my degree.
I began searching on-line for job openings, and that’s when I
stumbled across the FBI web site. I surfed through it, and noticed
that they work with specialty personnel in forensic laboratories. I
thought, `Why not? I’ll give it a try.’ I turned in my resume, got an
interview, and several months later I was working at the FBI on a
probationary term. That was eight years ago, and I’m still with the
FBI, still investigating crimes, and still trying to find the bad guys
so we can put them away where they won’t be able to hurt
anyone ever again.”

I Work for the Secret Service “I guess when most

people think of national security, they think of those guys in suits
who are always hovering around the President of the United
States, earphones in their ears, looking suspiciously at the crowd.
It’s true, those people are Secret Service Agents. But there’s a lot
more to the job than just baby-sitting the President – although
that is the primary task of the Secret Service. Besides protecting
our nation’s leaders, the Secret Service also conducts its own

16
investigations. In a way, it is an intelligence agency just like the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I started out in the National Guard as a “weekend warrior,”
and I was surprised to discover I enjoyed those weekends.
Everyone was really equal. We all had to follow orders, no
exceptions. Later on I realized that the Guard was an excellent
training ground for the Secret Service, which – until that point — I
had no idea I was going to join.
I started thinking about it, though, and I liked the idea of
protecting people. I began telling my family and friends about the
career I hoped for. Lucky thing I did, because it was through a
friend of a friend that I got my start working in the Treasury
Department (the Secret Service is an agency of the Treasury
Department).
That really built on the experiences I had in the Guard, and
taught me a lot. I learned about bomb disposal, and how to make
an arrest, and I practiced my marksmanship. In my spare time, I
also worked on improving my physical fitness, which is one of the
primary considerations when a new Secret Service agent is hired.
Although there is a variety of jobs within the Secret Service,
including administrative and technical positions, I wanted to be a
Special Agent. That meant I had to have at least 20-40 vision
(which could be, with corrective lenses, 20-20), and be in top
physical condition. Another point, which I didn’t think of before,
was that a special agent couldn’t be so brawny that he didn’t fit in
with the crowd around the President (or the presidential
candidate) he was protecting.
I applied, and I finally got in to the Service. I did a lot of
different things while I was a Special Agent. I protected the
President, as well as former Presidents (they are given protection
for life, even after they’re out of office) and presidential
candidates. It’s interesting work, and it keeps you on your toes.
You never know who just wants to shake the President’s hand,
and who has something more sinister planned.
I also worked on some investigations, trying to keep an eye on
groups and individuals that the Service deemed dangerous to the

17
President, and tracking down counterfeiters (remember, the
Service is an agency of the Treasury Department!).
My job was exciting and interesting, but I only stayed in the
Service for about 15 years. I always considered myself a strong
person, but the pressure really got to me. I was responsible for an
individual’s life – a life that millions of people, the entire country,
had an interest in.
Like other jobs in the field of security, secrecy is paramount in
the Secret Service; agents also had long hours and very long weeks
(especially during an election). Things have changed now, and for
the better, I think.
But one thing hasn’t changed: members of the Secret Service
are still like a big family, and still hold the safety of the nation in
their hands.”

I Am a Special Agent With the FBI “I was working

as a lawyer, something I’d been striving for since high school, but
I was surprised to discover that I wasn’t satisfied with the career
I’d wanted for so long. The hours were long, which I’d expected,
but the cases I was working on didn’t hold my interest the way I’d
expected them to. I needed a greater challenge, and living in
Virginia, not too far from the FBI Academy at Quantico, the
Bureau naturally came to mind.
I decided to apply to be a Special Agent, just to see what
would happen. If worst came to worst, I could always go back to
my job at the law firm.
I applied and was accepted to a class of potential Special
Agents. I spent four months at the Academy, running races,
practicing my marksmanship, learning about the best way to
conduct an interview with a suspect or witness, practicing how to
place handcuffs on a suspect’s wrist without unnecessary violence,
and getting very little sleep.
The program is strenuous, and it covers points I never
expected it would. We each had to dive off a high diving board
into a swimming pool, for instance, and also demonstrate our
swimming ability. Fortunately, since I grew up near California

18
beaches, swimming was something at which I was very proficient.
Other candidates were not so lucky, and some of them had to
learn how to swim. I did have trouble with shooting, at first. A
gun really starts to feel heavy after a while, and it’s hard to keep it
aimed and steady as you press on the trigger.
I was thrilled when I learned I’d made the grade. I became a
Special Agent (starting out, as they all do, on a two year
probationary period). Being an FBI agent isn’t really the way it
looks on TV or in the movies. We don’t all track serial killers, for
instance, which is what most fictional agents seem to do.
We are often confronted with scenes of violence, and with
reluctant interviewees, and we do travel a lot. I went to Bosnia
during the fighting there, and have also traveled across the United
States to conduct criminal investigations.
Being an FBI agent has given me the challenge I couldn’t find
in the career I initially sought, and it’s given me something more:
a feeling of satisfaction, because I know I’m making a difference.
I’m helping to make
the world a safer place,
not only for my own
family, but for all
residents of the United
States as well as people
across the globe.”

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PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS
INDIVIDUALS WHO WORK IN ANY KIND OF INVESTIGATIVE CAPACITY, PERHAPS
especially the FBI’s Special Agents, CIA staff, and other criminalists must,
above all, have a strong sense of curiosity and a desire to uncover the
truth. This desire, more than anything else, drives the investigations and
the crime-solving required by these jobs.
Good observational and good listening skills are also important traits
for investigators. Keen eyesight and an ability to pay attention to their
surroundings can lead investigators and security agents to notice clues that
might otherwise have been ignored. Likewise, listening carefully to the
victims’ stories and to the answers given by suspects can help investigators
to discern what is true and what is not, and to hear what is not being said.
Investigators and criminalists must be able to follow direction given by
their superiors, but they must also be resourceful and able to devise new
methods of doing their jobs. If a criminalist cannot figure out how an
intruder managed to scrape the windowsill on the inside window ledge
when he allegedly broke into the building from the outside, the criminalist
must be able to devise a new theory that takes into account all the clues,
and which makes sense. (Perhaps the alleged victim broke the window
from the inside during a struggle with the intruder.)
A criminalist should also have a good understanding of various
manufacturing techniques as well as a curiosity about how the world
works. This can help the investigator to determine, for instance, why a
bomb exploded the way it did, or why the temperature of a burning
building seemed excessively high. In fact, criminalists should be collectors
of trivia and know a little bit about a lot of topics, from knot varieties (a
distinctive knot in the cord a criminal used to tie up a victim can help
investigators determine whether the criminal has spent time in the military,
for example) to how to “read” a set of tire tracks or footprints.
Various jobs in the security field also have physical requirements that
job candidates must meet. FBI Special Agent candidates must demonstrate
stamina and speed by running, swimming, and acting out fictional arrests
with actors who portray criminals, witnesses, and victims.
Individuals who aspire to be Secret Service agents must also fulfill a
strict set of physical requirements, since they are acting as bodyguards as
well as investigators. Their vision must be no worse than 20-40, which,
with corrective lenses, would be 20-20 in the field. They must
demonstrate strength and agility, too.

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ATTRACTIVE FEATURES
MANY PEOPLE ARE ATTRACTED TO CAREERS IN GOVERNMENT SECURITY SERVICES, AND
perhaps especially to the FBI. Television shows and movies often depict the
careers of governmental security agents as exciting and interesting – and
people who work in the field agree that much of their work is fascinating
and holds their interest as years go by. Agents may investigate shocking
crimes, meet remorseless criminals, and face danger – all of which, as you
might imagine, keeps them from feeling bored!
People who work in this field feel like they are doing something
important and worthwhile. Secret Service agents, for instance, protect the
chief executive officer of the country, and to a certain extent keep the
country safe for all the citizens who live and work here. CIA agents can say
the same; they are constantly searching for the truth about other nations,
and trying to prevent foreign agents from discovering too much
information about the workings of the United States government. They
help keep the country and its citizens safe from terrorist attacks. FBI agents
seek the truth so that criminals can be prosecuted and future crimes can
be avoided.
It can be exhilarating for an agent to know that, because of work
done on a case, a criminal has been caught, or innocent people have been
protected from harm. Security specialists and investigators enjoy a
tremendous feeling of self-satisfaction because they know they are making
a positive difference through their work.
Earnings in this field can be very good. Government security agents
earn competitive salaries. The higher one rises in the ranks of an
organization – FBI, CIA, etc. – the larger one’s salary grows. Additionally,
employees of the federal government enjoy great security in their jobs,
gain more time off the longer they stay with the organization, and also
enjoy various health benefits that jobs in other fields may not be able to
offer.

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UNATTRACTIVE FEATURES
WHILE GOVERNMENT SECURITY AGENTS CAN FEEL PROUD THAT THEY HELP MAINTAIN
the security of the United States government, protect its citizens, and stop
crime, the work can be physically exhausting and emotionally draining.
Agents who work in the FBI Behavioral Science Unit, for instance, deal
extensively with serial killers, and “profilers” pride themselves on
completing their assignments successfully: getting inside the mind of a
serial killer before the next crime is committed. This work does not allow
an agent to look away when a crime is gruesome or to step back when the
crime hits close to home (a killer who targets children, for example, might
be particularly hard to deal with for an agent who is also a parent).
It may be difficult for an agent to prevent professional and personal
arenas from colliding. An agent who investigates violent crimes cannot
simply leave them behind at the office; those crimes are inside the agent’s
head, wherever that head happens to be – including home. If an agent
takes the family to a park to enjoy a leisurely afternoon, but that park was
also once the site of a violent crime, it may be difficult to suppress
memories of the crime and the ensuing investigation, and just concentrate
on the current moment.
Some jobs in this field also require a great degree of secrecy. Secret
Service Agents, for instance, present a solid front; there is a code of silence
that few break. FBI and CIA agents may be commanded not to tell anyone
what their next assignment is – or where it is; and it can be a strain on a
marriage when one spouse cannot confide in the other.
It is important for government security agents to have a support
system they can rely on. This may include people in the field who
understand the strain firsthand, and mental health professionals who can
help the agents deal with the violence they see every day. In earlier decades
it would have been unheard of for an agent to seek such help. It might
have been seen as a sign of weakness. But now the need for a “sounding
board” is recognized and more accepted.

22
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
PREREQUISITES FOR JOBS IN DIPLOMATIC SECURITY, OR AS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATORS,
vary from organization to organization. Some organizations, like the FBI,
require applicants to hold a degree from a four-year college or university,
with a major in one of several specific fields. For some jobs, like Secret
Service Agent, working in the department (the Treasury Department, in this
case) in another capacity can make it easier to get a job in the security
sector. Here we will discuss some requirements in detail, but for more
information about the specific position you’re interested in, try a search on
the Internet for the department you’d like to work in, or the position you’d
like to hold.
The FBI has very specific requirements for its agents. A Special Agent
candidate must have a degree from a four-year college or university
accredited by one of the six regional accredited bodies of the Commission
on Institutions for Higher Education. (For a list of these schools:
www.ncacihe.org/links.html) The FBI offers entry programs in four areas:
law, accounting, language, and diversified. Both law and accounting
require that Special Agent candidates have a degree in those fields,
though for accounting, a degree can be for a major in accounting or a
related subject. Accounting candidates must be able to pass the Certified
Public Accountant exam, or the FBI’s Accounting Test.
For Language and Diversified, candidates must hold a degree in an
approved discipline. Language candidates must pass a language
proficiency test, and diversified candidates must have three years full-time
work experience, or an advanced degree and two years full-time work
experience. (For more information, check out the FBI web site at
www.fbi.gov/.)
At the CIA, job requirements vary according to different positions. For
a computer scientist who will work in analysis programming, for instance,
a job candidate must have detailed knowledge of computers, a bachelor’s
or master’s degree in computer science or one of several other fields (earth
science, mathematics, etc.), and the ability to use various computer
programs. All CIA job candidates must also pass a background check and
polygraph test.
A Security Protective Officer, on the other hand, needs only to have a
high school diploma (or its equivalent), in addition to military or police or
security experience, or a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or a related
field. You can check out a list of jobs and each one’s requirements at
www.odci.gov/cia/employment/posframe.htm.

23
 Training for both FBI and CIA employees is provided on the job. Future
Special Agents enter the FBI Academy for 16 weeks of intensive training. In
the classroom, they study various academic and investigative subjects.
Outside the classroom, they learn defense tactics, how to use firearms, and
they train to maintain a high level of physical fitness. Tests are
administered to gauge training agents’ progress.
New employees at the CIA all attend an orientation before they begin
their jobs. Most new employees also receive on-the-job training and more
formal training through courses available to them within the CIA. Some
employees also attend university and college classes part time or full time,
paid for by the CIA. The agency also has a special espionage-training
school, often called simply “the farm,” at Camp Peary, near Williamsburg,
Virginia.
Like the CIA, the US Secret Service has different requirements for
different positions. A Secret Service Uniformed Officer (not a Special
Agent) is required only to have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
Other positions, like photographer, fingerprint specialist, or
telecommunications specialist require that applicants have extensive work
experience or specific training at the college level. A Special Agent of the
Secret Service must have a bachelor’s degree, three years’ experience
working in criminal investigations, or a combination of education and
work experience.
The United States’ many other intelligence and investigative
organizations likewise offer many job opportunities with widely varying
requirements.
In general, individuals who want to work in the field of national or
diplomatic security should try to learn as much as possible – independently
as well as through earning a college degree. Especially helpful are the
ability to speak, write, and read one or more foreign languages, and
knowledge of computer programs and how to use them. This knowledge
can be put to use in almost any field of government security.

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EARNINGS
THE VARIOUS FIELDS THAT CAN FALL UNDER THE HEADING OF “SECURITY,”
particularly national security, offer many benefits to those who work in
that field. Both the FBI and the CIA describe their salaries as “competitive.”
FBI Special Agents enter service at the GS 10 level on the government pay
scale, equivalent to a starting salary base of about $35,000 (varying
percentages are added to this base figure, depending on the city in which
the employee works. For more information: fedjobs.com/payscale.htm).
The highest base pay rate for an FBI agent in a supervisory, management,
or executive position would be close to $100,000 annually.
Starting salaries for CIA staff range from about $35,000 to $50,000
per year.
Other jobs with investigative or security organizations offer similar
opportunities for advancement and pay increases. At the National Security
Agency, for instance, a staff person who qualifies to work in the languages
division could earn from $25,000 to $65,000 annually. A newly-hired
foreign service officer in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the State
Department starts out with a salary between $27,500 and $45,000 (the
starting salary depends on education, work experience, and foreign
language skills).
It is the benefits, however, that really give jobs in this field an edge
over jobs in other areas. For example, at the FBI, the number of days of
“annual leave” each employee is allowed is based on the number of years
that employee has been working for the FBI. Employees who have been
there less than 3 years, for instance, get 13 days of annual leave, while
employees who have been working there 15 years or more get 26 days of
annual leave. There are 10 paid holidays every year, and a total of 12
weeks’ unpaid leave is allowed for various reasons, including the birth of a
child and caring for a family member with a serious health condition.
Like the CIA, the FBI offers a “thrift savings plan,” a tax-deferred
savings plan. Perhaps the most impressive benefit, however, is the
opportunity for FBI employees to participate in federal health and life
insurance plans. Though each individual contributes to his own plan, the
employer also pays a substantial percentage.
The CIA calculates days of annual leave the same way as at the FBI.
Full-time employees can also collect up to 15 days paid home leave for
each year of overseas assignment. As at the FBI, CIA employees can choose
from various health insurance plans. The CIA pays about three-fourths of
the premium.

25
 While the pay is competitive and the benefits are excellent, perhaps
the most important quality to note about jobs in the field of national
security is the security they offer to employees. Jobs with the federal
government are among the most secure in the nation (there is, for
example, comparatively little “downsizing”). If you do your job effectively
and enjoy the work, you could easily retain your position until retirement.
Jobs in security in the private sector pay competitive wages as well,
and benefits vary from employer to employer.

OPPORTUNITIES
PEOPLE HAVE A TENDENCY TO THINK THAT, WITH THE GREAT INCREASE IN COMPUTER
usage and everyone’s reliance (even the government’s) on computers, that
the need for intelligence work has decreased. Nothing could be further
from the truth. In fact, it seems that the needs for security and intelligence
may have increased. Not only do security and intelligence agents continue
to focus their concern on human beings, but they also need to be aware
of what could be happening via computers or satellite – computer viruses
being sent, codes being transmitted from one computer to another,
instructions for destruction being transmitted to individuals or to
mechanisms. This means that the opportunity for working in this field is
being offered to a greater variety of people than ever before.
The image of a spy as a smooth-talking, James Bond-type individual is
no longer typical. Spies and others who work in national security come in
all ages and nationalities, and have abilities in a variety of fields – especially
in computer science.
But the need for human-focused security is especially important
because of the increase in the number of terrorist threats. In a single
recent year, there were over 100 terrorist attacks against US facilities, or in
which US citizens suffered casualties. Most of these incidents were
bombings. The growing number of individuals and organizations who feel
they can force their demands to be met by threatening a diplomat,
destroying an embassy building, or committing other acts of violence
requires that a close watch be kept on our own and on foreign diplomats.
They must remain safe so they can continue the work they are hired to do:
to make the world a safer place, and to prevent misunderstandings from
exploding into conflicts.
The growth in terrorism as well as in interpersonal violence also
demonstrates a continuing need for an organization like the Behavioral

26
Sciences Unit of the FBI, which continues to study crimes already
committed, as well as the criminals who committed them, to find clues to
criminals’ personalities. By traveling around the country and presenting
their findings to local law enforcement agencies, the FBI helps ensure that
local law enforcement will have the same skills to deduce what a particular
murderer, for instance, looks and acts like, and to prevent further crimes
from being committed by taking that murderer into custody as soon as
possible.
George Tenet, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, explained
why he thought that the potential for “dangerous surprise” (like World
War II, which was the event that inspired President Truman to establish the
CIA) is as great as ever: “That is true whether I look at terrorist groups
whose sole purpose is to harm American interests, the biological weapons
that renegade dictators are trying to build and to hide in their rogue
nations, or the programs some of these states have for building
intermediate range missiles and nuclear weapons. It is true when I look at
the ethnic tensions that make life dangerous for US forces in
peace-keeping missions around the world, or the vast and unfinished
transformations underway in countries with large nuclear arsenals, such as
Russia and China.
“In a world where the US has a significantly smaller military and much
less global presence diplomatically than 10 years ago, global intelligence
reach becomes an even more critical deterrent to terrorists.”

GETTING STARTED
THERE ARE MANY SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP YOU FIND OUT
even more about careers in government security – and to help you decide
if that field is for you. It is easy to start your research on the Internet, by
checking out the Web sites for the FBI (www.fbi.gov/) and the CIA
(www.odci.gov/cia/). The FBI and the CIA Web sites both offer maps of the
United States and contact names and phone numbers for many regions of
the country. Call the agency representative near you and ask if information
about a career in government security could be sent to you. But don’t
forget that more than 25 other government agencies also have security
units that do investigations similar to those conducted by FBI or CIA
agents. Also check out the websites: National Counterintelligence Center
(www.nacic.gov/) and the US State Department (www.state.gov) for more
information about the field of government security.

27
 Make a visit to your local library and do a subject search for nonfiction
books on terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central
Intelligence Agency, or one of the other intelligence agencies. You will find
a list of books that will include memoirs of former agents, the histories of
the agencies, and major investigations the agencies have undertaken.
Nonfiction books, unlike novels that feature characters who are agents, or
TV shows or movies about these agencies’ investigations, will give you a
good idea of what it is really like to be an agent for one of these agencies.
This will help you to decide if the career may be right for you.
Also look at Standard Periodicals, Ulrich’s International Periodical
Directory, or another directory of publications to find professional journals
for this field. While it is not likely you will find a monthly magazine for FBI
agents, there are many journals about international relations, political
science, security, and publications for law enforcement officers,
criminalists, and forensic scientists. All these will give you a better idea of
some of the options open to government security agents.
Forensic scientists also have the flexibility of working for numerous
other agencies, including local police or sheriff departments. You can learn
more about this field by reading trade journals, including those published
by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Call your local law
enforcement agency (look up the administrative offices’ phone number; do
not dial 911 or another emergency number) and ask for information about
working in that agency’s forensics lab.
Working as a criminal investigator or in the field of national security
can be one of the most rewarding choices you can make for your life. Pick
up the phone or head to the library and start your own investigation to
decide if this is the career for you!

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PERIODICALS

n Criminology
n Diplomat
n Diplomatic World Bulletin
n Fingerprint World
n Intelligence and National Security
n International Diplomatic Review
n International Society of Criminology
n Journal of Crime and Justice
n Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
n Security Studies

Copyright 2005 Institute For Career Research CHICAGO

Careers Internet Database www.careers-internet.org

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