The Sturm College of Law hosted a series of events last week that highlighted career opportunities with the Federal government.
Represented at these events were the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Central Intelligence Agency.
In both of the one-hour events, the agency representatives spoke to and answered question from law school students about the merits, opportunities and challenges offered by each agency as well as by careers within the Federal government.
The event series began last Tuesday with an information session about employment with the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service.
The NCS, formerly the Directorate of Operations until it was restructed in 2002, is the division of the CIA responsible for the most commonly associated aspect of the agency’s mission: espionage. As befits the NCS’s secrecy, the speaker spoke on a condition of anonymity.
“Call me Ed, just Ed,” said Ed, a field operative for the CIA, before beginning his description of the NCS’ mission. That mission is to “gather the information that the President and the powers that be need to create effective policies.”
“Every country keeps secrets and sometimes those secrets are important for us to now in order to secure our nation’s interests,” said Ed.
Specifically, Ed described the various duties involved with positions such as staff operations officers, collection management officers and targeting officers.
The staff operations officers’ direct intelligence gathering operations overseas, while collection management officers manages and distributes intelligence gather by operatives in the field and targeting officers analyze the best ways to go about gather intelligence.
In as much detail as is permitted, Ed described the rigorous application and screening process involved with selecting civilians to become America’s shadow guardians.
Thursday, two more federal agencies provided information sessions about career opportunities. The Thursday session was divided between the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The U.S. postal inspection service, while the oldest federal law enforcement agency, is often ignored despite how vital its mission is to the United States.
That mission is “to secure and to protect the nation’s postal system and postal employees.”
Protecting a 700,000 employee agency is by no means a simple task, “but it is also immensely exciting work,” said Special Agent Robert Burns. “We fight against everything from terrorists and anthrax in the mail to some of the biggest white-collar corporate crimes.”
The mission of the USPIS also extends to coordinating investigation efforts with other agencies such the FBI for major criminal investigations.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service, made famous by the CBS crime investigation drama “NCIS,” offers a diversity of opportunities for applicants.
“As the law enforcement branch of the Navy Department, we provide counterterrorism, counterintelligence, technical services, and force protection support to the men and women of the Navy and Marine Corps,” said Special Agent Bob Johnson.
“Wherever the Navy goes, we go here too,” said Johnson. This even extends to the high seas, “at one point in every Agent’s career, they will be expected to serve aboard a ship of the United States Navy.”
One feature was common to all four agencies represented. All stressed the idea of service.
Each agent stated that the most compelling reason for working for the Federal government was a sense of giving back to the nation.
“For me the ultimate reason for having chosen this path has been the chance to know with certainty that I am having a bearing on the success of this nation,” said Ed.
