Editing United States Secret Service (section)

===Special Agent===
[[File:Secret Service agents executing a protective operation.png|thumb|left|Secret Service agents executing a protective operation]]
The Secret Service's most familiar personnel are the plain-clothes investigators and personal protectors, who form almost half their total number.  This [[special agent]] position is highly selective, with for example in 2011, the service accepting less than 1% of its 15,600 special agent applicants.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-04-25/secret-service-agent-selection-toughter-than-harvard|title=Secret Service Agent Selection Tougher Than Harvard|website=[[Bloomberg News]]|date=April 25, 2012|access-date=September 23, 2017|archive-date=September 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923144917/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-04-25/secret-service-agent-selection-toughter-than-harvard|url-status=live}}</ref>

At a minimum, a prospective agent must be a U.S. citizen, possess a current valid driver's license, be in excellent health and physical condition, possess visual acuity no worse than 20/100 uncorrected or correctable to 20/20 in each eye, and be between age 21–37 at the time of appointment,<ref name="USSS">{{cite web|title=Special Agent: Career Path|url=https://www.secretservice.gov/join/careers/agents/|publisher=US Secret Service|access-date=September 24, 2017|archive-date=October 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011180618/https://www.secretservice.gov/join/careers/agents/|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> but eligible veterans may apply past age 37. In 2009, the Office of Personnel Management issued implementation guidance on the ''Isabella v. Department of State'' court decision: OPM Letter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chcoc.gov/Transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=2484|title=CHCOC.gov|publisher=CHCOC.gov|date=August 26, 2009|access-date=August 9, 2012|archive-date=August 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808110540/http://www.chcoc.gov/Transmittals/TransmittalDetails.aspx?TransmittalID=2484|url-status=live}}</ref>

Prospective agents must also qualify for a TS/SCI (Top Secret / [[Sensitive Compartmented Information]]) clearance, and undergo an extensive background investigation, to include in-depth interviews, drug screening, medical diagnosis, and full-scope polygraph examination.<ref name="USSS"/>
[[File:Secret Service agent trainees at the James J. Rowley Training Center (RTC).jpg|thumb|Secret Service agent trainees at the [[James J. Rowley Training Center]] (RTC)]]

Special agents receive training in two locations, totaling approximately 31 weeks. The first phase, the Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) is conducted at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's [[Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers]] (FLETC) in [[Glynco, Georgia]], lasting approximately 13 weeks. The second phase, the Special Agent Training Course (SATC) is conducted at the Secret Service Academy, [[James J. Rowley Training Center]] (JJRTC), just outside [[Washington, D.C.]] in [[Laurel, Maryland]], lasting approximately 18 weeks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.secretservice.gov/join/training|title=Agent Training|access-date=September 23, 2017|archive-date=May 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512024959/https://www.secretservice.gov/join/training/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Secret Service agent trainees practice executing a search warrant.jpg|thumb|left|Secret Service agent trainees practice executing a search warrant.]]
A typical special agent career path, depending upon performance and promotions that affect individual assignments, begins with the first six to eight years on the job assigned to a field office. Applicants are directed to list their office location preference during the application process, and upon receiving a final job offer, usually have several locations to choose from.<ref name="USSS"/> After their field office experience, agents are usually transferred to a protective assignment where they will stay for three to five years. Following their protective assignment, many agents return to a field office for the rest of their careers, or opt for a headquarters based assignment located in Washington, D.C. During their careers, agents also have the opportunity to work overseas in one of the agency's international field offices. This typically requires foreign language training to ensure language proficiency when working alongside the agency's foreign law enforcement counterparts.<ref name="USSS"/>

Special agents are hired at the [[General Schedule (US civil service pay scale)#List of other pay scale terms|GL]]-07, GL-09, or GS-11 grade level, depending on individual qualifications and/or education.<ref name="USSS"/> Agents are eligible for promotion on a yearly basis, from GL-07, to GL-09, to GS-11, to GS-12, to GS-13. The full performance grade level for a journeyman field agent is GS-13, which a GL-07, GL-09, or GS-11 agent may reach in as little as four, three, or two years respectively. GS-13 agents are eligible for competitive promotion to supervisory positions, which encompasses the GS-14, GS-15, and SES grade levels. Higher ranks continue to use variations on the "Special Agent" title, as with several other Federal agencies with a plainclothes or investigatory role.  GS-13 agents who wish to remain as rank-and-file field agents, will continue to advance the GS-13 step level, capping at GS-13 Step 10.

Special agents also receive Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP), a type of premium overtime pay which provides them with an additional 25% bonus pay on top of their salary, as agents are required to work an average workweek of 50 hours as opposed to 40.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/availability-pay|title=LEAP Pay|access-date=September 23, 2017|archive-date=September 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923095924/https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/availability-pay/|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2025, an agent living in the Washington, DC area (DC, VA, MD) will earn an annual salary of $80,985 (GL-07), $90,317 (GL-09), $105,751 (GS-11), $126,751 (GS-12), $150,723 (GS-13), $178,110 (GS-14), and $195,200 (GS-15). Journeyman field agents at GS-13 Step 10 are also paid a salary of $195,200.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2024/law-enforcement-officer-salary-calculator/|title=LEAP Salary Calculator|access-date=January 8, 2024|archive-date=December 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225092359/https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2020/law-enforcement-officer-salary-calculator|url-status=live}}</ref>

Due to the nature of their work, Secret Service agents are regularly eligible for overtime pay in addition to LEAP, and are compensated up to $225,700 per year (Level II of the Executive Schedule).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/114th-congress/house-report/837/1 |title=Secret Service Agent Overtime Pay |access-date=September 27, 2017 |archive-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906212603/https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/114th-congress/house-report/837/1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>