The year 1908 saw establishment of a small force of special agents within the Department of Justice. This force was mainly comprised of former secret service agents and department peon investigators. They were assembled and ordered to report to the Chief Examiner, Stanley Finch. This was the beginning of the department now called the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

If you are like many who are intrigued by this elite investigative force, you may wonder about what it would take to become the next special agent Moulder, or perhaps Scully? If that is your dream, there are two ways this can be accomplished.

One is to become an officer of law enforcement and wait for an invitation. Nominees are chosen from every state in the union as well as the U.S. territories and one-hundred and fifty foreign nations. If , however you prefer to seek a position on your own, there are a few things you will need to know about qualifications and the training you will need to become a FBI agent.

First, you must be a U.S. citizen between the ages of twenty-three and thirty-seven and be capable of passing the agencies strict physical requirements. The requirements include having 20/20 vision in one eye and no less than 20/40 with correction in the other. You must also possess a bachelor's degree from a specially credited college; you must major in a subject that prepares you for a career in law, like criminal justice or law enforcement.

Beyond the educational requirements, you will also have to pass a rigorous background check, up to and including a possible lie detector test. Once you are accepted in the training program, you will be off to Quantico, Virginia for the New Agents Training Unit (NATU).

At Quantico, you will begin a seventeen-week training that will include six-hundred and forty-three and a half hours of instruction. This instruction is spread over four major concentrations, academics, firearms, operational skills and integrated case scenario.

Now that you have finished with your training, you must pass the course by achieving a minimum of eighty-five percent in the following disciplines; behavioral science, interviewing, ethics, interrogation, forensic science, legal, basic and advanced investigative techniques.

The physical testing that is required is as intensive as the academia and is on going. There will be testing during the first, seventh and fourteenth week of training. The tests are made up of sit-ups, three-hundred meter run, push-ups and a one and half mile run. These tests will be scored and the participant must get at least twelve points out of a possible forty.

In addition to the outright physical rigors, the new comer will need to pass a defensive tactics test that will include boxing, grappling, handcuffing, control holds, searching, weapon retention and disarming techniques.

I could go on. But it is hard to cover all the things you need to become an FBI agent in this short article. If you really want to join this elite group, I ask you to do more research on the internet. There are excellent websites that cover the FBI career in more detail.

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