In the movie Silence of the Lambs, when we first see her Agent Starling is shown going through Quantico, I think, in a grueling run past obstacles, etc. Is this based on the truth?
Frankly I don’t even know what “Special” agent means, which she is not until she captures the bad guy. I guess I could Google that…
It’s not too bad. Not as rigorous as some other agencies. Hereare the scoring guidelines; they’re hard if you can’t do them, less so if you can’t.
Thanks for the cite; it was on the money. I tried Googling the second question, about the “Special” in “Special Agent,” but came up empty. Is there such a thing as just “Agent”?
No. They’re all Special Agents.
Damn, that is one unprofessional-looking website for such a prestigious government agency!
Compare CIA site.
See also what exactly is an FBI "special agent?" - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
Not sure why FBI agent ranks are the hot topic this morning.
Hey, unlike many government agencies, the FBI has an ugly website on which you can actually find the information you seek. I kind of love it, really.
I think the level of continued physical fitness also depends on what you do for the agency. My friends husband works swat now, and is applying for HRT (hostage rescue teams). He has to maintain excellent physical fitness.
My buddy who’s been an agent for 20 years seldom exercises. In fact Im not sure I’ve ever heard him talk about doing anything physical.
Do you happen to know if the ‘one minute sit-ups’ score means the number of sit-ups you can do in one minute, or the number or minute-long sit-ups you can do? Really quick sit-ups are less effort than slow ones.
In the military it was the number of sit-ups you can do in a minute.
Well, bless my soul. The good old W-machine has popped up: Special Agent, which has details about training requirements for the FBI specials (apparently there are SAs all over the place), and a few other juicy infobits.
I laughed my ass off watching one of those cheesy “cop” shows on TV last night. I forget which one it was, but at the end they promoted a dude to “Agent” instead of “Special Agent” because he didn’t shoot a kid-killer.
As the post in response to your post (I forget the name, sorry - I don’t feel like going back and finding it) says, they’re all S/As.
ETA: It was GaryT
True 'dat. After 10-15 years, most Feds are… not fit.
Yup. And the civilian LE world is modeled on the military’s training component (with some variation, of course).
Heh. I’d love to see the look on the face of a PT assessor if you insisted you couldn’t do 55 situps in a minute, but could do one over the course of 55 minutes… and then argue the logic. 