In 2015, the biggest threats facing the United States of America are mostly related to technology and cybersecurity. As a result, FBI agents don't need to traditionally be as hands-on to get the job done.
To curb the transition of working for the Bureau becoming more of a desk job, the agency is requiring all agents to pass a fitness test, according to CBS News.
FBI Director James B. Comey sent a memo out to agency employees in October, which The New York Times ran an excerpt of on Sunday:
"The lives of your colleagues and those you protect may well depend upon your ability to run, fight and shoot, no matter what job you hold...I want the American people to be able to take one glance at you and think, 'THERE is a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.'"
The tradition once played a large part in the FBI's pedigree, dating back to the 1950s when director J. Edgar Hoover made it mandatory. Since 9/11, though, the focus on keeping citizens safe relies much more on stopping hackers than criminals on the streets.
Two years before 9/11, the FBI abandoned the requirement of passing a fitness test for agents.
"Agents faced mandatory tests in the 1980s and 1990s, amid concerns that law enforcement officers faced additional health issues because of the stresses of their jobs. The bureau stopped making the test mandatory in 1999, as it begun a study of its effectiveness," reported The New York Times.
It was not until 2013, when Comey was hired, that the idea of bringing the test back was discussed.
He visited all of the agency's field offices and noticed a growing trend — stress was high and morale was low. Comey inquired about fitness requirements among agents and was told only new hires were subject to the test. In once again making fitness a priority, he hopes it will improve stress and time management skills.
The new test requirements will depend on gender and age.
According to The New York Times, male agents ages 30 to 39 will need to perform 24 push-ups consecutively and 35 sit-ups in a minute. For the cardio portion, they need to run 300 meters in less than 60 seconds and run a mile and a half in less than 12 minutes and 53 seconds.
Women in the same demographic will need to successfully do 25 sit-ups and 11 push-ups under the same rules. They have 86 seconds to run 300 meters and 15 minutes and 56 seconds to run a mile and a half.
The common link between all demographics is agents only get to rest for five minutes between the exercises.
Jennifer Schick, a public corruption agent at the FBI's Washington, D.C., field office where only 75 of 800 employees have taken the test so far, told The New York Times that most people required to participate are overachievers and are training so they have impressive results.
"It's really not that hard," she said. "Most agents wouldn't be satisfied in just coming out and making the minimum. They would be embarrassed by that, and that is why they're waiting."
