I was going to write about the need for fitness, but I am going to branch off to a topic that maybe considered controversial. As we witnessed the assassination attempt of our Former US President, Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, we saw the secret service attempt to protect the former president. My prayers go out to former US President Donald Trump, his family and to the other victims of this horrific incident. Please note that I do not care which way you lean Democrat or Republican. I do not want to get political in any means. This is strictly about the fitness requirements of certain Federal jobs and the importance of the strive to better our health.
This is discouraging because throughout my life, I have watched the fitness requirements drop for certain jobs due to a lack of viable recruitment then, more currently, the need for diversity equity and inclusion. My story begins in 1991 when I was in the academy for the Sheriff’s Department. Just coming out of the military, the academy was not too difficult for me even though I was diagnosed with bronchitis in the middle of my training. I endured because I did not want to give my Training Instructors my doctors note and draw unwanted attention towards myself. Attention from the staff is never a good thing. The requirement for graduation was a run we called the “Colors Run”. This was a five-mile run in formation. If you could not complete the run, you did not graduate. I specifically remember a female recruit that was getting a cortisone shot in her knee to complete the run. Back then, it was an honor and worth fighting for the chance to graduate.
As I continued to work in the sheriff’s department in 1996, I remember speaking with a coworker that told me that the requirements for the academy were dropped, giving recruits the option of running or riding the stationary bike and that the “Colors Run” was not a requirement to graduate. The reason this stands out is because I saw a direct correlation with the attitude of the deputies that were now working for the department. There was an increase in the arrogance and disrespect towards others.
Around this time, I was reading the book Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton in which he talks about “Inherited Power”. While researching this blog, I found a quote which stresses the same idea but substitutes the term “Inherited Power” with “Inherited Wealth”. I believe it still gets the point across.
“You know what’s wrong with scientific power? […] It’s a form of inherited wealth […] Most kinds of power require a substantial sacrifice by whoever wants the power. There is an apprenticeship, a discipline lasting many years. Whatever kind of power you want. President of the company. Black belt in karate. Spiritual guru. Whatever it is you seek, you have to put in the time, the practice, the effort. You must give up a lot to get it. It has to be very important to you. And once you have attained it, it is your power. It can’t be given away: it resides in you. It is literally the result of your discipline. Now, what is interesting about this process is that, by the time someone has acquired the ability to kill with his bare hands, he has also matured to the point where he won’t use it unwisely. So that kind of power has a built-in control. The discipline of getting the power changes you so that you won’t abuse it. But scientific power is like inherited wealth: attained without discipline.” by Michael Crichton.
I believe that this is why I was seeing so much arrogance in some of the newer deputies. By 1997, I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and got a job in Massachusetts. Although, I was a hard worker, I tried to prove myself in the company. I was working out of a small office with two other coworkers which in my opinion worked harder at not working, reading the paper and playing card games on their laptops. So, I decided to get back in to law enforcement and test with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Although it was a long time ago, I remember parts of the testing requirements very well. Sixty sit-ups in 60 seconds, 60 trigger pulls of a firearm in sixty seconds with both the right and the left hand, and a 2-mile run in less than 16:00 minutes. Out of curiosity, I checked the requirements for both the DEA and the Secret Service.
Both the DEA and Secret Service have gone to a scale where an applicant must achieve a minimum score of points. The DEA, according to their website and a February 16, 2023, DEA Physical Task Assessment Guide, an applicant must complete Sit-ups for one minute, 300-meter Sprint (timed), Push-ups (untimed but continuous motion) and a 1.5-mile run (timed). There is a graph with different requirements for males and females. In the field an applicant can receive a Conditional Offer of Employment and continue in the hiring process if they receive at least 9 points even if they have a zero in one category.
Note: If an applicant receives a score of less than zero in an event on the PTA Rating Scale (indicated as a -2 on the scale) that is an automatic failure of the PTA Test.
On training day 60 they have PTA test 2 and they must get at least a score of at least 12 with at least a score of 1 in each category.
The secret service, based on their website, “are not specific to age and/or gender identity”.
For the Secret Service requirements, please check out the link below.
Secret Security Applicant Physical Abilities Test
Have the standards really dropped that low. Maybe this is why we have seen in the lack of competence. Here is a link to a clip on YouTube of the Megan Kelly Show.
Did Secret Service DEI Efforts Contribute to Trump Assassination Attempt? With Marino and Spears (youtube.com)
I am going to let you decide on “Once again have we gone too far?” I know this blog only touched the surface of my concerns and I hope you will also research this material.
Good points.