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  • Man: You OK, man?

  • Man: You mother f-----.

  • Recruit: Put the bat down!

  • Police! Drop the bat!

  • Christopher Fagan: I want you to take all the notions

  • that you have about what we do in the Secret Service

  • that you've seen on the movies

  • and on TV shows,

  • and I want you to throw it out the window.

  • The Secret Service is the premier law-enforcement agency

  • in the world.

  • It is by far the best protective agency that's ever been.

  • The Secret Service has a zero-fail mission.

  • That is now your responsibility.

  • That is now the weight on your shoulders.

  • Now you have to earn it every single day.

  • Narrator: This

  • is Secret Service boot camp.

  • Before they join the Secret Service,

  • all recruits have to graduate

  • from the agency's six-month training program.

  • Training happens here,

  • at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel, Maryland,

  • located about 20 miles north of Washington.

  • Fagan: Welcome to the James J. Rowley

  • United States Secret Service Training Center.

  • Narrator: On day one, a new class of recruits

  • arrives at the academy.

  • Fagan: Have a seat.

  • Every one of you sitting here right now,

  • there was about 100 other applicants that tried to get

  • the seat that you have earned.

  • How did you earn that seat?

  • You earned that seat

  • by getting through our very, very difficult

  • and in-depth vetting process.

  • And you should be congratulated.

  • And I hope you celebrated,

  • because the celebration time is over.

  • Now's the time for business.

  • Everybody clear on that?

  • On Saturday, you will depart...

  • Narrator: Before they begin their Secret Service-specific

  • training, these recruits will spend three months

  • at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

  • in Artesia, New Mexico.

  • Recruit: Get back in the building, now!

  • Narrator: Before returning to Maryland

  • for three more months of focused training...

  • that includes driving,

  • marksmanship,

  • hand-to-hand combat,

  • and realistic threat scenarios.

  • Fagan: You're gonna hear a phrase over and over

  • and over again throughout your training,

  • in particular this week.

  • The Secret Service has a zero-fail mission.

  • What that means in layman's terms,

  • ladies and gentlemen, is this:

  • You don't get a bad day in the Secret Service.

  • There's plenty of other pursuits out there, noble pursuits.

  • Lawyers, plumbers, firemen, doctors.

  • If one of those folks has a rough night the night before,

  • stays out late, they have to deal with their boss,

  • some kind of disciplinary action.

  • If you have a bad day

  • and you don't do your job,

  • you're going to change the world.

  • Is there anyone that doesn't want to proceed at this point?

  • All right.

  • Then let's get down to business.

  • Narrator: We spent three days at the training center,

  • where we observed recruits at various stages of training.

  • Fagan: It's going to be a long week.

  • Narrator: For the new class, their first week focuses

  • on a physical evaluation.

  • Recruit: Let's go! Let's go! Don't stop! Don't stop!

  • Narrator: And getting rid of any bad habits

  • they may have brought into the academy.

  • Fagan: We left yesterday without chairs being pushed in,

  • and now we can't pay attention to detail

  • one minute after the detail's given out.

  • And we're laughing and joking in here.

  • It is going to be an extremely long week.

  • Do not make plans for Friday getting out of here

  • on time, 'cause that ain't happening.

  • Narrator: Although we were allowed to film inside

  • the academy, our access was limited,

  • and we were only able to film certain aspects of training,

  • the rest of which remained secret.

  • Michael Buck: There's certain things that we will not

  • be able to show yourself

  • or any other members of the media here,

  • and that's really for the safety of our protectees.

  • We don't wanna advertise our playbook, so to speak.

  • Narrator: For example, we weren't able to film

  • any training that incorporated this partial replica

  • of Air Force One, used to create specific scenarios

  • where the president is threatened.

  • Buck: We don't want to give people specifics

  • into our protective methodologies that we have in place

  • for some of our protection.

  • Clearly, some of those things we cannot share.

  • And that's really to make sure that

  • we're not giving any sort of an advantage

  • to any of our adversaries out there.

  • Clip: The United States Secret Service,

  • America's first line of defense

  • against the counterfeiter and their crimes.

  • Narrator: The Secret Service was founded in 1865.

  • It's primary mission:

  • to combat the counterfeiting of US currency.

  • Clip: The famed Secret Service,

  • whose foremost duty is protecting the president of the

  • United States and his family.

  • Narrator: The Secret Service began its protective mission

  • after the 1901 assassination

  • of President William McKinley.

  • Gus Gennerich: I am the president's personal bodyguard.

  • I go where he goes.

  • I wanna say that anybody who has no business with him

  • better look out.

  • And believe me, I don't mean maybe.

  • Narrator: Since the Secret Service began

  • its protective mission,

  • the president has remained a target.

  • Since 1901, President Kennedy has been the sole president

  • to die at the hands of an assassin,

  • despite numerous attempts by others.

  • Like in 1994.

  • Woman: Oh, my God!

  • [gunshots]

  • Narrator: When a gunman opened fire on the White House

  • while President Clinton watched a football game inside.

  • Man: Put it down! Put it down!

  • Buck: Due to the weight of our protective mission,

  • we have to make sure that anyone in those positions

  • is truly worthy of trust and confidence,

  • which is our motto here.

  • We're getting ready to go into another campaign year,

  • so we have to build up our workforce

  • in order to help support that.

  • Narrator: The base salary for new agents and officers

  • starts as low as $47,000 a year.

  • Potential recruits apply on the Secret Service website,

  • but most applicants are eliminated

  • during an intense vetting process.

  • Fagan: Generally, it takes quite a long time

  • in order to get through our screening process.

  • The very in-depth background checks,

  • qualification to

  • obtain a top-secret clearance and maintain one,

  • to undergo a polygraph examination,

  • successfully pass that.

  • They have a lot to be proud of

  • just for the fact that they're sitting here.

  • Recruit: Stay right there.

  • Instructor: One thing to understand, guys:

  • This is not a video game.

  • Narrator: In this exercise, recruits interact

  • with a video screen that plays a scenario

  • involving a potential threat to a protectee.

  • Recruit: Sir, drop it! Stop moving! Stop moving!

  • Narrator: And are judged on how quickly they're

  • able to assess and respond to the threat.

  • Instructor: So, there's the gun I knew I was gonna find.

  • What can I do with this?

  • Narrator: Recruits also engage with role players,

  • who create realistic law-enforcement scenarios.

  • Man: All right, I'll just hang out over here, officer.

  • Recruit: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

  • Narrator: Working in motor vehicles

  • plays a big part in training,

  • in what the academy calls "protective transportation."

  • Recruits train behind the wheel of high-speed

  • Dodge Challengers

  • and Chevy Suburbans.

  • Thomas Murach: The Secret Service's mission

  • is to get protectees safely from point A to point B.

  • The training that we provide enhances that mission,

  • that foundational driving that they are going to need

  • to be effective Secret Service agents.

  • Instructor: All right, is everybody ready? All right.

  • Narrator: Recruits also experience a rollover simulator

  • to prepare them for what it's like

  • inside a vehicle that's flipped over.

  • Instructor: Next four up.

  • Narrator: The instructor allowed us in the simulator.

  • Graham Flanagan: I'm upside down.

  • Narrator: To experience it from the inside.

  • Recruits spend hours on the firing range.

  • They cross paths with active agents

  • who've come back to the academy for in-service training.

  • Recruit: Drop the weapon!

  • Narrator: Recruits engage in water-based scenarios,

  • including being challenged to escape from this apparatus.

  • Which simulates being trapped in a helicopter

  • that's flipped upside down underwater.

  • Instructor: You guys good? You still wanna be here?

  • Recruits: Yes, ma'am!

  • Instructor: You guys ready to do some team tactics?

  • Recruits: Yes, ma'am!

  • Narrator: Recruits learn control tactics

  • used to detain and subdue an assailant.

  • Recruit: Drop the knife! Drop the knife! Drop the knife!

  • Narrator: Male and female recruits train together

  • throughout basic training.

  • Of the approximately 7,000 people in the Secret Service,

  • less than 25% are female.

  • Instructor: I'm gonna come around and check your seals

  • one more time.

  • Narrator: One of the most challenging parts of training

  • occurs when the recruits are exposed to tear gas.

  • Narrator: We couldn't bring our camera inside

  • the gas chamber, but we did convince an officer

  • to shoot inside with an iPhone,

  • showing us what it's like for recruits

  • when they're exposed to the gas.

  • We weren't allowed to interview recruits

  • during training or to film at graduation.

  • Once training is complete,

  • these future agents and officers

  • begin their zero-fail mission

  • against the backdrop of an intense election year

  • in a nation divided by politics.

  • Fagan: We protect the Office of the President.

  • We're not political appointees.

  • It doesn't matter to us who the people elect.

  • We're gonna protect those individuals

  • with the same zealousness that we would regardless.

  • Political opinions don't come into play at all.

  • What we're focused on is training, preparing them

  • to do the job that they're gonna need to do,

  • and that's all that counts for us.

Man: You OK, man?

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