What is a Border Patrol Agent

Author Unknown

A Border Patrol Agent is a different breed.  In spite of all the efforts to group them in with other Law Enforcement types, they remain fiercely independent and proudly non-conformist.

A Border Patrol Agent knows what it’s like to pull a tire drag when it’s so hot his vehicle’s A/C has to be turned off to keep it from overheating.

A Border Patrol Agent knows how it feels to be caught in a early spring rain storm and be soaked to the bone miles from the nearest shelter.

A Border Patrol Agent knows what it’s like to stand in traffic and icy wind when the only way he knows his flashlight is still clenched in his numb hand is by the beam it casts.

A Border Patrol Agent has stayed a couple of hours to catch just one more group, only to wind up with Poles, Chinese or Bangladeshis, so the two hours becomes ten. . . and he’ll do it again the next day if needed.

A Border Patrol Agent has sat down to drink coffee with DEA, FBI, ATF or Secret Service Agents who get paid more for doing less.

A Border Patrol Agent has been yelled at, spit at and shot at, and would prefer the latter.

A Border Patrol Agent on alternate nights has been bored to tears and scared to death.

A Border Patrol Agent has caught mules running way from hundreds of pounds of dope, only to have prosecution declined.

A Border Patrol Agent carries a little more around the middle than he would like and wears boots he intended to shine but didn’t because he knows they’ll look the same a couple of hours later.

A Border Patrol Agent has had his flashlight run out, get separated from his partner, lose radio contact, forget where he parked the vehicle, and still caught the group and managed to get home safe.

A Border Patrol Agent has seen many friends and classmates transfer out to other stations and agencies. . . only to see many of them return because they can’t stand the work, or the lack of it.

A Border Patrol Agent complains about every new policy that comes down, but somehow finds a way to continue to get the job done.

A Border Patrol Agent gets blamed for catching too few by the locals and too many by big business.

A Border Patrol Agent knows that being too hot or too cold or too thirsty or too tired are just part of the job.

A Border Patrol Agent knows what it’s like to work at a station where priorities and advancements are low and a GS-11 looks years down the road, while his classmate who was dumb as a rock just got Supervisor at a high profile station.

A Border Patrol Agent sometimes drinks too much, smokes too much, loses his hair, and too often his spouse, and survives retirement less than five years.

A Border Patrol Agent begins his training in the field.  Anyone who thinks that a 97 in Academy Law makes an Agent misses the point altogether.