Foreign Service Diplomatic Courier

[schoromanski]

Just sent an application into them and I was wondering if anyone has heard anything positive about them?

Heres what I know.. they are 1801's, have diplomatic immunity, protect and transport import information all around the world. I believe I read they do a little of investigative work when a visiting head would be in the area?

Anyone know of anyone starting off with them and using it as a starting point for getting an 1811 down the road?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

[Kimble]

Just sent an application into them and I was wondering if anyone has heard anything positive about them?

Heres what I know.. they are 1801's, have diplomatic immunity, protect and transport import information all around the world. I believe I read they do a little of investigative work when a visiting head would be in the area?

Anyone know of anyone starting off with them and using it as a starting point for getting an 1811 down the road?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

Steve, I'm not sure where you heard that couriers do "investigative work," but I find that highly doubtful. Their job is to transport classified materials between embassies. I'm not familiar with any 1811's who were couriers with Dept of State, however, the couriers are within the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and I have heard that it can be a decent "foot in the door" for their agent positions (which are techinically Foreign Service series 2501 vice 1811, but they are still federal agents who are 1811-equivalent). Expect lots of travel, it's probably more of a single man's game.

MikeD provided some good background info here: http://911jobforums.com/showthread.p...omatic+courier

[L-1]

I applied for the position when I retired from my department. The info they provided me at the interview did not sound real exciting.

The job was presented to me as being an unarmed and strictly diplomatic position.

You work out one of eight diplomatic mail hubs throughout the world located in Washington, DC; Frankfurt, Germany; Bangkok, Thailand; Dakar, Senegal; Miami, Florida; Pretoria, South Africa; Seoul, Korea; or Manama, Bahrain..They told me the first post is usually Frankfurt, Germany. They also indicated that they often transferred you every two years.

In most cases, they indicated you plan your mail run by determining which connecting commercial airline flights will take to the cities that contain consulates or embassies that are due to receive or send diplomatic pouches. It sounded like most pouch exchanges are made at the cargo hold of the plane, with you getting off just long enough to make the exchange while the representative from the embassy remains below to make sure no one else goes into the hold and tampers with the pouches until the plane takes off for the next city.

The loading, unloading and security procedures involving the pouches and the aircraft are complex, In most cases, you get to see the world, but only from the window of an airliner.

Take a look at

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88331.pdf
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88332.pdf
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88333.pdf
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88334.pdf
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88335.pdf
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88336.pdf

Read and commit them to heart. They will help you with a lot of the questions during the oral.