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From Pilot to FBI

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jordan

Active member
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Posts
29
Wondering if anyone has made a transition from being a Commercial Pilot to working for the FBI. I am in such a situation and was curious if anyone had experience. Thanks.
 
How do you land that? What will you be flying for the FBI? What kind of time do they look for?

Good Luck
 
Flying for law enforcement

There's a twist to this kind of flying. You have to be a law enforcement officer for the particular agency first. Then, they'll teach you to be a pilot. You can't be a pilot first and be hired as a pilot.

This seems to be true across the board, from local police departments, to Customs, to the DEA. I had a friend who was a a graduate of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Academy and a former Chickasha, Oklahoma, police officer. He went to work with us at Riddle and got on with Mesa. His goal was not the majors but flying for the FBI. He would have been well-qualfied. Dunno if he made it.

Hope that helps a little.
 
Back in the 80's it used to be the FBI was looking for lawyers and accounts (or whatever field) who they could train to be agents. The way it was explained to me you could teach lawyers and accountants to be G men but you couldn't teach G men to be lawyers and accountants. If that logic holds true today, then it would seem plausible they'd rather have a qualified pilot who they could in turn train to be a FBI agent. Police departments tend to do the opposite. Hired to be a cop then train in a specialty. Unless it has changed, need to have that "important" college degree for the FBI.
 
The only Federal Law Enforcement Agency that hires pilot straight off the street as full time pilots without have them become agents first is the United States Marshal Service.

That is because of the mission of the Air Operations Division of the USMS is to fly airline type aircraft (B-727s, DC-9s and MD-80s) transporting thousands of prisoners and illegal immigrants around the world.

You can’t take an agent off the street and turn him into a B-727 captain overnight.
 
Gov't Flying

I would like to get into flying for one of the federal gov't law enforcement agencies. I bet it would be a lot of fun.
 
Jordan,

It is true to fly for the FBI one first has to be hired as a Special Agent with them. I have a friend who has been hired as such, and will most likely fly for them (he is currently in New Agent Training in Quantico). I am in the application process, which takes forever.
A few months ago they were actively recruiting fixed-wing pilots to become agents. However, this is no longer the case per se. But it will help your application be more competitive. If you have specific questions, PM me.
They have some Cessnas, other light aircraft, a few small jets, and apparently a new G-V.
 
I considered doing this. I read an advertisement for FBI agents that specifically identified fixed wing pilots as something they had a need for. I filled out their looooong application, and it took them several months to get back to me with a "no thanks" letter.

I got the feeling from filling out the application that big plusses are:
True Fluency in another language
Prior Military service
Prior law enforcement service
Accountant certification.

Good luck!
 

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