About a year ago, my younger son, fresh out of college, submitted an application to a prominent, and legendary, US Government law enforcement agency, one that is known for its very tough standards, its rigorous training, and its vitally important mission.

The selection process was excruciating. After they vetted his application, this agency invited him to take their written test. Following that he underwent an interview, an interrogation by an interview board, a very difficult polygraph exam, a thorough background check, and a comprehensive physical (including, at the tender age of 23, his first prostate exam!).

He was hired several weeks ago, and began his training at his agency's academy. It's tough, challenging, and exhilarating, and he is being tested each and every day. So far, he's doing well, bonding with his classmates, learning a lot about both his new job and himself, and pushing himself to do things he never knew he was capable of doing.

My proudest moment as a father occurred last summer, when my son was interrogated, and his then-prospective employer was asking him about drug use. Looking for a Bill Clinton-style answer, they asked him 50 different ways whether he'd ever smoked pot, or used any other illegal substances. He assured them he had not, and when they demanded to know why, he told them, truthfully, that when he was growing up, his Dad had said if he ever caught him smoking, it wouldn't be cancer that killed him!

I am sure most of us here have children who are doing well, of whom we are very proud. But I am still in awe over my son being selected for this agency (I myself would never have qualified) and I ask my fellow Forum members for their prayers for his success and safety.

Thanks! :-)

Cool story - you should be a Proud Father!
Wishing your son {good luck} in his new career.

Thanks for sharing

Very good! I too wish him well and am very excited for him as he embarks on this new and well-deserved adventure!

Most excellent!

Our children can either break our hearts or make our hearts swell with pride, can't they?

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Georgia On My Mind

Best wishes to you and your son. I am sure he will be in good company. Be sure to thank him for his service as well.

Frank

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sona si latine loqueris .

Good luck to your son, and congratulations on raising such a model son.

which agency is it?

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

Sounds like this young man had some fine parents that taught him well. Congrats and best wishes for his success.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes and kind words...I truly appreciate it! :-)

a proud dad you should be...

Congratulations to your son, and to you as well.

(I only wish such thorough scrutiny was used for other federal positions!)

Good job DAD! We need more instruction like that to take this country back.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

I wish that I had taken my parents teaching as seriously. Dad gave me some of the best advice that I ever ignored. However, i've never been to court or to jail, usually attributed to dumb luck or a loving Creator. May God protect that young man and enrich his life.

yashua

I know what you mean! After I retired from my Fire Department career (30 years in the 'hood was enough!) I went to work for Uncle Sam, in an agency which shall remain nameless. We have some very good people working for us...and we have some others that leave a lot to be desired!

Thanks very much for your kind wishes. I too ignored much of my Dad's advice, and did some things in my mis-spent youth that I'm not very proud of today.

I always told both of my sons when they were growing up that while it's true you learn from your mistakes, if you're really smart you learn from other peoples' mistakes. Luckily, they paid attention!

I just got off the phone with my son. Today his academy class underwent their OC spray training...and he says he now has a whole new benchmark for the worst thing that's ever happened to him!

He is very fair-skinned, and the pepper spray affected him severely. He says his eyes were swollen shut, he had a lot of trouble getting his breath, and his nose was running constantly. He recovered eventually though, and is now okay.

Although I don't think this is what his instructors had in mind, I told him the lesson he should learn from this is, if he has to subdue somebody and is thinking about using his pepper spray, he should just shoot the ******** instead! :-)

Well, my son is almost finished his academy training...just four weeks remaining until graduation.

It's been very interesting to see how he's changed in the six months since he started...

He has always been positive and optimistic, but he is now truly confident and sure of himself, and very enthusiastic about his agency's mission and purpose. His training has given him the tools he needs to do his job, and his instructors have been very, very good.

His class has remained intact, with the sole exception of one young woman who dropped out at the end of their very first week. They have all gotten to be close friends, and on their weekends, they socialize together, just as they train together all week. This is no accident: their academy training emphasizes teamwork and interdependence.

After six months of daily PT, he has gotten quite muscular, and more fit than he has ever been in his life. (One recent exercise: Hold a 16kg weight in each hand -- that's about 75 pounds total -- and run up and down three flights of steps three times!) It was brutally difficult at times, especially in last summer's heat and humidity, but he never griped or complained.

Target shooting has always been a family activity for us, and he has been shooting since he was a very little boy. But his shooting experience growing up was with single-action pistols and SA and DA revolvers, which is not what his agency uses. Furthermore, I taught him to shoot a handgun in a Weaver stance, while his agency teaches the Isoceles stance. Nevertheless, he adapted easily, and is one of the top shooters in his class. His agency uses a variety of firearms, and he has become very comfortable and proficient with all of them.

His training has been sobering at times, especially from my perspective as his father. He's been taught how to continue shooting and fighting, and how to survive, after being shot, and he and his classmates have gotten battered and bruised from their tactics training. (To him, of course, this is all part of the adrenalin rush that goes with his new career. I now know how my own father felt worrying about his one son the firefighter and his other son the state trooper!)

He popped the question to his high-school sweetheart just before he started the academy, and they are planning to tie the knot once things settle down and they are both established in their careers. (She is a recent nursing school graduate, who just passed her state boards.)

It's amazing to me to think about how quickly the years have passed...it seems like yesterday I was changing his diapers, and playing my guitar next to his crib as he drifted off to sleep. Now he is all grown up...wow!

I am so proud of him, and happy for him! Thanks for reading this long post...

Thanks for the the update...........sounds like he has his head on straight. Take some of the credit for him being where he is now - you obviously raised a fine young man!

+1 to what VM said. You should be very proud.

VM and bamabiker, thanks for your kind words.

A lot of folks who know of my son's situation comment on the kind of parenting he must have had, but I think the real secret to what my ex and I did was that we were always there for both of our sons. (My elder son, btw, is also a fine young man who chose a very different path in life: He works for a music production company and plays guitar in a local rock band. He's a very talented musician, and like his brother, a source of pride and joy.)

When they were children, my ex worked part-time -- she is a nurse -- and scheduled her hours around my Fire Department shifts, so the boys were never in daycare, and one of us was always with them. On my days off, we spent a lot of time together, and the three of us did a lot of "guy-stuff". I can't count how many times I packed a picnic lunch, loaded the .22s in the car, and spent the day with them at our rifle club, just punching holes in paper and having a good time. This part of the country is conveniently located to so many things, and we took a lot of day or weekend trips together to Washington, Philadelphia, New York, etc...it was fun having them around, and watching them grow up.

Now it's neat seeing them as grown men, establishing their careers and their own families...man, how time flies!

He needs a couple kids to pass your values and drive to. And his nephews and nieces need to view him as their hero. He's the coolest person those kids will know-really kills the business for the drug dealers, gangs, criminal types.

Well, there's no grandkids on the horizon for me anytime soon, unfortunately.

Number 1 son is married, but still getting his life and career sorted out, and not ready for parenthood yet. And while Number 2 is engaged, I don't look for grandchildren from him for at least several years. I look forward to it someday...I just hope it happens before I get too old to be a good Grandpa!

Funny you should mention about him being "cool"...his tenth high school reunion will be in 2014, and I told him that he will surely have the coolest job of any of his classmates! :-)

Having spent the last 25 years as a member of a US Government law enforcement agency (one that is known for its very tough standards, its rigorous training, and its vitally important mission - to use your words), which has an interrogation panel and rigorous training make it sound like the agencies are one and the same. Maybe, maybe not.

Either way, it is good to see there are still great candidates to carry on the job and traditions. My agency is big on tradition and hopefully always will. Of course in the old days the motto was, when I started, 62 years of tradition unhampered by progress. Fortunately in the ensuing years we've begun embracing progress and technology. The old ways still have to be learned because, technology being technology, sometimes thing don't work and you have to rely on old timey skill.

Congrats on raising a fine kid. Do keep us posted on his academy status as he nears graduation. So far it has been a heck of an adventure and provided well for my family. I have to retire in about 5 1/2 years, so bring on the new guys (and gals).

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Non illegitimae carborundum

Thanks for your very kind words. My son's agency is actually a good bit older than your own, but my description would apply equally to both his and yours.

Tradition is indeed important, especially in law enforcement or public safety agencies...and my son is carrying on a family tradition of sorts.

My great-grandfather, an Irish immigrant, became a Baltimore firefighter in 1895, as did one of his children, my great-uncle. I followed in their footsteps, and spend 30 years in the Baltimore City Fire Department. (I used to tell people I had the best job in the world: I got paid to make noise, squirt water, and break things!)

My late father-in-law was a detective sergeant in the Baltimore County Police Department, and my now-retired brother was a Maryland State Trooper in his career. We all influenced my son, I'm sure, and while this wasn't on his radar screen when he was in college (his degree is in psychology, and he was planning to enter that field) once he committed to it, he really gave it his all.

He graduates in less than four weeks, and I will update this thread from time to time. Thanks again for your kind words, and thanks very much for your own service to our country. :-)

Well, my son made it! He graduated several days ago from his agency's training academy, and has now begun his career in earnest.

I was so proud to attend his graduation, but I cannot get over how grown up he seems now, and I can just imagine the way my Dad must have felt as he watched me and my brothers begin our own careers...it's quite a feeling!

As part and parcel of their new careers, my son and his classmates have accepted a tremendous amount of responsibility, and they have left behind many of the carefree aspects of their youth. He now carries his sidearm, and his badge and credentials, at all times, along with his government-issued Blackberry, and there are many restrictions that go along with all of that. (Any time he goes out socially, he will always be the designated driver, LOL!) But the reward for that tradeoff can be found in the unique wording of his credentials, which note that he is authorized to enforce the laws of the United States and the District of Columbia, to make arrests, to execute warrants...and to provide protection to the President of the United States.

My son and his classmates have undertaken a difficult, challenging and honorable mission...please keep them all in your prayers. Thanks!

Congratulations to your son...and his classmates.

Please convey my traditional sign-off "Be safe." to him.

Be safe.

Congratulations to both of you. It is easy to look around the modern world and think things are going to pot. So much of what is before us is there literally because it is part of a misguided agenda the liberal media embraces - and expects that we will blindly accept. The truth is that it is good to know there are still lots of good young guys like your son who are willing and able to step up and keep things headed in the right direction. Give him my thanks.

Big D and M29, thanks for your kind words, and I did pass along your greetings to him. He thanks you.

M29, you are so right in your comments. There are indeed a lot of good young folks in this country, people who are principled, and righteous, and honest, and willing to stand for something good. Many of them are in the US Armed Forces. Many others have sought careers as police officers or firefighters, or in other public service. (I have a co-worker whose son is going to college on the GI Bill. He is a recently discharged Marine, who saw more than his share of combat in Afghanistan last year, and he wants to be a history teacher. His future students will surely benefit from his experiences.)

The general impression we get of young people these days is driven by news coverage, which, by its nature, is negative...because that is what makes the news.

For example, last week, in Baltimore, the FBI arrested another convert to the "religion of peace" who wanted to detonate a car bomb in front of a military recruiting office. (This made national news; you might have seen it.) He is a little younger than my son, and the local news coverage of his case has been non-stop. Yet I cannot recall any recent news coverage of young people going through a public safety academy, learning to serve and protect others instead of trying to destroy them.

There were 25 young people in my son's academy class. They were racially and ethnically diverse, several of them were women, and they came from all over the United States. But they were all cut from the same mold -- bright and honest and tough and brave -- and I was thrilled and happy for each of them. They didn't make the news when they graduated...but that's okay.

Thanks again for your kind words, guys! :-)

Since my son's graduation from his federal law enforcement agency's Academy last December, he has been learning his job and enjoying his new career immensely. He lives with many restrictions on his life and his time (he cannot discuss specifics of what he does at work, he must be available 24/7, etc.) but he loves it, and he has had some unforgettable moments.

My son called me Tuesday to tell me that he will be travelling to New York City this coming weekend on official business...at Ground Zero. He will be there Sunday at the ceremonies commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

I was very moved by this news. Ten years ago, I was still on the job in the Baltimore City Fire Department, and not a day goes by that I don't think of the bravery of my 343 FDNY brothers who gave their lives trying to save others that morning. My son was a 14 year old high school student then; now, a decade on, he will be there himself, protecting lives...

I asked him to think of the victims of 9/11 sometime on Sunday, and to offer a prayer for them. He assured me he would...and I know he will.

Beemerguy, you are right to be proud of your son. I am glad for him and for you that he will have the honor of serving at Ground Zero on 9/11 this year. God bless!

I, too, think a lot about 9/11, and especially these past few days...

Conratulations to you and your family. I had many of the same emotions when my son marched across the parade ground at Paris Island. Hopes and a prayers for a safe and long career.

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NRA Certified Instructor

I don't know how I've managed to miss this thread for so long. Please accept my belated conratulations on your boy's success and tell him to stay safe and watch his six. You have every right to be proud.

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

God bless you both. You raised him right and he is enjoying the fruits of his efforts. It's great to watch your kids realize that there are rewards for working hard and living clean.

Having seen my own son apply for this very challenging profession, survive the screening process, then go through almost seven months of grueling training, I know exactly how you feel! It's great to see these creatures grow up and make something of themselves, isn't it? :-)

As a Marine, your son has earned a distinction that he will carry with him proudly, and which will serve him well, for the rest of his life. In my Fire Department career, I was privileged to work with many former Marines, and they were among the toughest and bravest guys I ever knew.

Congratulations to both you and him!

Thank you very much for your kind words!

I used to tell both of my sons that while you learn from your mistakes, it's best to learn from other peoples' mistakes: Look at those around you, note what they're doing wrong, what bad choices they've made, and then do the opposite. I was especially adamant with them about drugs and tobacco. I told them bluntly, and often, that while I expected them to make mistakes as teens, smoking or doing drugs would not be among them. We butted heads at times, but we never had any serious issues.

(In my younger son's case, I added an extra incentive. He has been shooting since he was old enough to hold a firearm, and for Christmas in 2001, when he was 15, I gave him a beautiful stainless Colt Commander that Wayne Novak had massaged. I explained to him that while it was his Colt, he couldn't take legal possession of it until his 21st birthday, and if he screwed up during his late teens, and ran afoul of the law, he would not be able to own it. He shot that Colt frequently over the years, and when he turned 21, we transferred legal ownership to him.)

Last May, my son sent me a Father's Day card that I will treasure the rest of my life. In it, he thanked me for keeping him "on the straight and narrow", and wrote that "I can say with certainty that I would not be where I am today without you...thank you for guiding me through my life."

Both of my sons are happy and successful at what they do, and it is indeed very gratifying to me to see that. :-)

Sometimes in the same moment...

Concrats. Before you know it it grow up and ask your car keys.

Yes indeed! I tell people that you're changing diapers one moment, and going to a college graduation the next, and wondering where the time went!

Friday here in Maryland was just beautiful, with clear skies and temperatures in the high 70s. Having some errands to run, I took my motorcycle instead of my car, and was out for several hours.

When I got home around 3, I turned on my XM Radio and tuned in Fox News, and the first thing I heard was something about a car trying to ram through a security checkpoint at the White House, and shots fired, and US Secret Service and US Capitol Police officers being injured...

Knowing my son was at work, I called his cell phone, and was so relieved to hear his voice! He couldn't talk long, but he did let me know he was okay, and that his co-worker's injuries were not that serious. He had not been directly involved in the incident, but he had responded to it, and ended up remaining on the scene for most of the evening.

Karma is a bear. Back in 1981, seven years into my Fire Department career, I was seriously injured. My Dad told me how concerned he was about me and my brother (who was a Maryland State Trooper), and suggested I look into a career change. I told him I was all grown up (I was 28) and that he shouldn't worry. He replied, adamantly, that he would worry about me until the day he died, and that when I became a father, I would understand...and boy, was he right!

I am very proud of my son and his comrades. Those young men and women -- who are not even being paid during this government shutdown -- responded professionally, conducted themselves bravely, and fulfilled their mission of protecting the White House. God bless them...

That's great news Beemer and you should be proud.
Always a pleasure to hear the stories about the young
men and women who we're raised right and are now
doing the right things in life. His hard work and attitude,
"listening to the old man", will take him far.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Thanks! With 3+ years on the job now, he's doing very well. Yesterday's events served to highlight, for me, just how serious his job can be...

What a great old thread that deserves a re-read!

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Possum—The other white meat!

Happy tales deserve re-telling.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Good show! You should be very proud.

Reminds me of my younger days prior to my being assigned to an atomic weapons outfit in the Army. The feds came out and interviewed my neighbors, girl friends, school associates, my ROTC friends, etc. before I could get a top secret clearance. Many of my friends and associates came to me to ask what was going on... it was a bit embarrassing, because I suspected the kinds of questions they were asking.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

6518John, thanks for re-telling for newer folks like me. Well done Beemerguy and Son-of-Beemerguy.

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Life Member SAF, CCRKBA, FOAC

Yup, re-directed here by the other recent thread and this one is a fantastic read! Love it!

Thanks for your kind words...

When my son was going through the hiring process (and I can't believe it's been so long ago!) he called me to tell me his prospective employer needed certain information about me: passport number, a list of every country I've ever visited, etc., etc....and they needed that information for all of our other immediate family members as well. Serious stuff...

Thank you, Mark. It's funny to revisit this thread and reflect on how time flies and how life changes since I started it in 2010.

My son is in his mid-30s now, and has 12 years on the job. He's had a number of interesting career experiences, from locking up bad guys to traveling all over the world. He's a veteran now in his agency, well-established. He's gotten a tremendous amount of specialized training, not just in personal protection, but in cyber-security, bank fraud, and other financial crimes. When he decides to pull the plug and retire, he will be able to do pretty much whatever he wants professionally (if he chooses to work at all), and will be well-paid for it.

In one of the original posts on this thread, I referenced his being engaged to his high school sweetheart. Well...they broke up in 2012 (before tying the knot, thank heaven!). In 2014, he met a wonderful girl who just adores him. They got married in 2018, and almost exactly one year ago presented me with a beautiful grandson.

They've moved twice because of his career, and now live only an hour's drive away. He'll have one or two more moves before he retires, but for right now, I'm enjoying being able to see him and his family more often.

Thanks again for your kind words...

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I missed this thread when it was newer, but I have enjoyed reading through it today. Thanks and congratulations.

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Or something like that . . .

Several years back, I had a Kid on my squad that was like an adopted Son…He was offered an SRO slot on Days and asked me what I thought…I told him the first time he smacked a gang member resisting arrest, He wouldn’t be an SRO anymore and that he should finish his degree, He had an AS, and should apply Federal….He went to classes and finished and, I got a call @ Home from someone advising He needed my address to come by and talk to me about Ron….

I told him I’d meet him @ a nearby Mickey Ds…I arrived early and sat by the window….An older guy, silver haired, grinning from ear to ear, drives up in a Red Corvette convertible…It was him…After showing each other our IDs, He asked a series of questions about Ron…..He was hired and called while @ Quantico every couple weeks… First sent to Boston and a couple years later, made Supervisory Agent and sent to Houston. Point being, the guy in the Red Vette was Retired working as a Background Investigator for applicants….Beemer jr. will be fine and You did a good job raising him right. Enjoy your Grandson, They grow up fast ..You guys stay safe.