Physical Requirements to be a Special Agent
Unless you hail from a police department or the military, odds are you aren't required to be in any physical shape whatsoever to do your job. But if you want to be a Federal Agent -- enforce laws and arrest people -- then the U.S. government is going to force certain physical fitness standards on you before they turn you loose with a gun. Welcome to Physical Training (PT-101).
Before we start, let's first say that there's nothing to stress about here. Many federal agencies will allow you to get into shape over the course of your three months of training at FLETC before passing your physical fitness test. Those agencies that have physical requirements up front often have lesser requirements than those required for graduation, just to make sure you can rise to the level required by the time your training is done.
If you're not excessively overweight, then you can easily rise to the level necessary to graduate from FLETC. The reason we make the weight exception is three-fold: during the physical fitness test, the amount of weight you are required to bench press one time is a percentage of your body weight. If you're fat, you have to lift more -- plain and simple. You also must have a respectable percent body fat composition - they'll pinch your blubber in front of your classmates. And let's not get into how hard it is to carry your big bones around a track six times in a respectable amount of time.
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