00:00The Secret Service has a zero-fail mission.
00:03A zero-fail mission.
00:05What that means in layman's terms, ladies and gentlemen, is this.
00:09You don't get a bad day in the Secret Service.
00:12Somebody tell me in this room right now,
00:14what would happen if the Secret Service failed at its zero-fail mission?
00:18If one of us decided that we stayed out late the night before, we got up late,
00:22we let the wrong person get by us.
00:25Something happened to the President of the United States.
00:28Would it be business as usual that next day?
00:31Any ideas?
00:33Tell me what you think.
00:35Would there be any changes the next day after something happened to the President?
00:40What do you think would happen to other foreign militaries' postures around the world?
00:44What do you think would happen to the stock market here and abroad?
00:48How would it affect you? How would it affect your family members?
00:51What would happen to your family's 401Ks and retirement plans?
00:55You think those things would plummet?
00:57You think there'd be worldwide panic and anxiety?
01:00That's exactly what would happen.
01:02Times ten, that is now your responsibility.
01:06That is now the weight on your shoulders.
01:09That is what the responsibility you are accepting by taking this job and showing up here today.
01:14So I want you to take this moment and say to yourself,
01:17am I ready for that level of responsibility?
01:20Is that what I want to do?
01:22You've earned this seat. We've congratulated you.
01:25Now you have to earn it every single day.
01:28I want you to take all the notions that you have about what we do in the Secret Service
01:56that you've seen on the movies and on TV shows,
01:59and I want you to throw it out the window.
02:03This is Secret Service Boot Camp.
02:09Before they join the Secret Service,
02:12all recruits have to graduate from the agency's six-month training program.
02:17Training happens here at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel, Maryland,
02:23located about 20 miles north of Washington.
02:28Welcome to the James J. Rowley United States Secret Service Training Center.
02:32On day one, a new class of recruits arrives at the academy.
02:36Have a seat.
02:37Every one of you sitting here right now,
02:39there was about 100 other applicants that tried to get the seat that you have earned.
02:43How did you earn that seat?
02:45You earned that seat by getting through our very, very difficult and in-depth vetting process,
02:51and you should be congratulated.
02:53And I hope you celebrate it because the celebration time is over.
02:56Now's the time for business.
02:58Everybody clear on that?
02:59On Saturday, you will depart.
03:00Before they begin their Secret Service-specific training,
03:03these recruits will spend three months at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, New Mexico
03:10before returning to Maryland for three more months of focused training
03:17that includes driving,
03:20marksmanship,
03:21hand-to-hand combat,
03:22and realistic threat scenarios.
03:27We spent three days at the training center,
03:30where we observed recruits at various stages of training.
03:33It's going to be a long week.
03:36For the new class, their first week focuses on a physical evaluation
03:42and getting rid of any bad habits they may have brought into the academy.
03:47We left yesterday without chairs being pushed in,
03:50and now we can't pay attention to detail one minute after the detail's given out,
03:55and we're laughing and joking in here.
03:57It is going to be an extremely long week.
03:59Do not make plans for Friday getting out of here on time because that ain't happening.
04:04Although we were allowed to film inside the academy,
04:07our access was limited,
04:09and we were only able to film certain aspects of training,
04:12the rest of which remained secret.
04:15There are certain things that we will not be able to show yourself
04:17or any other members of the media here,
04:19and that's really for the safety of our protectees.
04:21We don't want to advertise our playbook, so to speak.
04:25For example, we weren't able to film any training
04:29that incorporated this partial replica of Air Force One
04:32used to create specific scenarios where the president is threatened.
04:38We don't want to give people specifics into our protective methodologies
04:41that we have in place for some of our protection.
04:43Clearly, some of those things we cannot share,
04:45and that's really to make sure that we're not giving any sort of an advantage
04:49to any of our adversaries out there.
04:53The United States Secret Service,
04:55America's first line of defense against the counterfeiter and the crank.
04:58The Secret Service was founded in 1865.
05:02Its primary mission, to combat the counterfeiting of U.S. currency.
05:06The famed Secret Service,
05:08whose foremost duty is protecting the president of the United States and his family.
05:14The Secret Service began its protective mission
05:17after the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley.
05:21I am the president's personal bodyguard.
05:25I go where he goes.
05:27I want to say that anybody who has no business with him better look out.
05:33And believe me, I don't mean maybe.
05:39Since the Secret Service began its protective mission,
05:42the president has remained a target.
05:47Since 1901, President Kennedy has been the sole president
05:51to die at the hands of an assassin,
05:54despite numerous attempts by others.
05:58Like in 1994.
06:04When a gunman opened fire on the White House,
06:07while President Clinton watched a football game inside.
06:11Due to the weight of our protective mission,
06:13we have to make sure that anyone in those positions
06:15is truly worthy of trust and confidence, which is our motto here.
06:19We're getting ready to go into another campaign year,
06:21so we have to build up our workforce in order to help support that.
06:25The base salary for new agents and officers
06:28starts as low as $47,000 a year.
06:31Potential recruits apply on the Secret Service website,
06:34but most applicants are eliminated during an intense vetting process.
06:38Generally, it takes quite a long time in order to get through our screening process.
06:42The very in-depth background checks,
06:44qualification to obtain a top secret clearance and maintain one,
06:48to undergo a polygraph examination, successfully pass that,
06:51they have a lot to be proud of just for the fact that they're sitting here.
06:55Stay right there!
06:56Stay right there!
06:59One thing to understand, guys, this is not a video game.
07:01In this exercise, recruits interact with a video screen
07:05that plays a scenario involving a potential threat to a protectee.
07:09Search him! Hey, stop moving! Stop moving!
07:13And are judged on how quickly they're able to assess and respond to the threat.
07:18So, there's the guy I knew I was going to find.
07:20What can I do with this?
07:21Recruits also engage with role players who create realistic law enforcement scenarios.
07:32Working in motor vehicles plays a big part in training
07:35in what the Academy calls protective transportation.
07:40Recruits train behind the wheel of high-speed Dodge Chargers
07:45and Chevy Suburbans.
07:46The Secret Service's mission is to get protectees safely from point A to point B.
07:51The training that we provide enhances that mission,
07:54that foundational driving that they are going to need to be effective Secret Service agents.
07:59Alright, is everybody ready?
08:01Recruits also experience a rollover simulator
08:04to prepare them for what it's like inside a vehicle that's flipped over.
08:09The next four up.
08:11The instructor allowed us in the simulator.
08:16I'm upside down.
08:17To experience it from the inside.
08:23Recruits spend hours on the firing range.
08:30They cross paths with active agents who've come back to the Academy for in-service training.
08:40Recruits engage in water-based scenarios,
08:43including being challenged to escape from this apparatus,
08:49which simulates being trapped in a helicopter that's flipped upside down underwater.
09:00Recruits learn control tactics used to detain and subdue an assailant.
09:06Drop your knife! Drop your knife! Drop your knife!
09:09Male and female recruits train together throughout basic training.
09:14Of the approximately 7,000 people in the Secret Service, less than 25% are female.
09:22I'm gonna come around and check your seals one more time.
09:24One of the most challenging parts of training occurs when the recruits are exposed to tear gas.
09:30Holy s**t.
09:32It is burning my eyes.
09:33We couldn't bring our camera inside the gas chamber,
09:36but we did convince an officer to shoot inside with an iPhone,
09:40showing us what it's like for recruits when they're exposed to the gas.
09:45Guy's lost his mask.
09:47Okay, we got him. Good job, good job, good job.
10:00We weren't allowed to interview recruits during training or to film at graduation.
10:07Once training is complete, these future agents and officers begin their zero-fail mission
10:13against the backdrop of an intense election year in a nation divided by politics.
10:19We protect the office of the president. We're not political appointees.
10:22It doesn't matter to us who the people elect.
10:25We're gonna protect those individuals with the same zealousness that we would regardless.
10:29Political opinions don't come into play at all.
10:32What we're focused on is training, preparing them to do the job that they're gonna need to do,
10:36and that's all that counts for us.
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