The FBI Becomes Federal Body Inspectors

The FBI is no longer tolerating agents who can’t flash their badges without running out of breath. The Director of the agency is making sure that with great power comes great responsibility, especially when it comes to getting some exercise and not eating a whole pizza for lunch.

By October of this year, all FBI agents will be required to pass a fitness test. “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,” Director James B. Comey wrote last year when outlining the requirements. And these aren’t requirements that will let agents off easy.

For a lot of gym rats the test would not be much to fret about, but for a desk worker passing the test will require some training. The test requires timed sit-ups and push-ups, a 300 meter sprint in under a certain time and a 1.5 mile run in under a set time. The highest expectations are for men 20-29, who will need 38 sit-ups, 24 push-ups, a 300-meter dash in 59 seconds and a 1.5 mile run in a hair under 12.5 minutes. For women 50-59, they’ll still have to do 14 sit-ups, 5 push-ups, finish a 300-meter run in 113 seconds and cross the finish line of a 1.5 mile run in just a little over 19 minutes.

There has been a tradition of directors making sure agents are physically fit, all the way back to J. Edgar Hoover, though we doubt he would have been able to do five push-ups through his entire tenure. After 9/11, when computer-based jobs became more important, there were a lot more desk jockeys, but hopefully this new stipulation will make the country safer or at least make the FBI look even cooler.