Many of the questions posed to me in the last few years it feels to be touched on the part of the president's personal bodyguard in the Secret Service, where I had served and be protective three United States presidents: George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. (It's been a hot topic since a man breaking into the security of the White House at the beginning of the month). In matters of physical experience, imagine this: stay up for 24 hours, skipping lunch and dinner, just outside the house in the rain at 3 o'clock in the morning for a few hours, took a taxi to the airport, and finally boarded the plane to the big city with time four hours. Repeat this package for several days in a row. To complete the simulation, you also have to miss a birthday or graduation children, the holidays or wedding anniversaries.
This work has so many challenges. (Single agent will be easier to perform tasks than agents who have a family). However, all agents who undergo the task would admit that his work deserve acted. I have never heard of a former protective agent who hopes to do other work.
Routines agent is divided into several time task: Each agency president worked for two weeks from morning to afternoon, and two weeks starting in the afternoon until the morning again. And so on. Turnover time of a task that is constantly changing, combined with a trip to the area that has a different time, of course, difficult to bear the body. After working for five years, tremendous fatigue will hit.
Secret Service agents occupy an odd position in the White House. Physically, they are so close to the president so that everything said and done by him will be monitored. However, unlike the presidential staff, the agency did not move and rarely provide input if it is not in contact with the security issues. If the president asks a particular situation, especially political issues, the agents must provide a short answer and friendly. In many cases, the conversation between the agent and the president only lasted a matter of seconds.
I joined as a protective agent in 1992 after working for 10 years as a member of the Secret Service in other divisions. (I was in the division until 1994, and returned as a supervisor in 2003). Work has changed. During the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton started running as a form of exercise as well as how to meet people. The activities carried out in the open, where people gather. The habit continued as he became president, present major challenges for the Secret Service. Thus, the agents must be able to run up to 5-7 km with the president while carrying a gun and a walkie-talkie. All agents must not only durable, but also has the residual power to anticipate emergency situations.
The next president, George W. Bush, is not a casual runner, but a true runner. He was able to travel more than 1.5 miles in six minutes, and every time I ran would reach a distance of nearly 5 miles. Only a few agents that can follow the rhythm. Fortunately, President Bush never ran in the community, but at Camp David or the Secret Service training facility in Beltsville.
Is the weight of a job as an agent? Ya. But, having experienced it, I can firmly say that being president of the United States is the most difficult job in the world.
-And Emmett is the author of "Within Arm's Length: A Secret Service Agent's Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President" (St. Martin's Press).
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