SPOTLIGHT ON: BARBARA RIGGS

We're turning the spotlight on Barbara Riggs, a new member of PCCW, who was the first woman Deputy Director of the Secret Service. She retired on Jan. 31 after a 31-year career that took her to every continent - except Antarctica - in her work protecting six presidents - Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. In a Q&A with eNewsletter, she recounts many fascinating experiences, including riding horses with President Reagan at Camp David and Rancho del Cielo in California and accompanying his casket aboard Air Force One from California to Washington, D.C., for his state funeral. She also talks about her pride in having a Cornell education, reminding herself at difficult moments: "I am a Cornell graduate, I know I am mentally and intellectually capable of doing anything I put my mind to."

How did I get to the Secret Service from Cornell?

While at Cornell, I majored in International Studies and Spanish. I intended to go to law school and then go into the Foreign Service. I had lived in Chile and Nicaragua previously, so I was very keen on working for the State Department and living overseas.

While taking a seminar on Constitutional Law offered to undergraduates by the Cornell Law School, I met a man (Win Lawson) who worked for the Secret Service. He was spending the year at Cornell participating in a government program that sent senior executives back to graduate school to earn a Master's Degree in Public Administration. We were both students in this seminar. At the end of the semester (spring semester, junior year, 1974), he asked me if I would be interested in becoming a special agent in the Secret Service. My response to him was: "Do they hire women?" He proudly responded that the Secret Service employed five (5) women as special agents!!! Naturally, I was intrigued, so I began the interview process in the summer of 1974.

During my first interview with the Special Agent in Charge in the Syracuse Field Office, he asked me if my application was a joke; he wanted to know if my sorority sisters had put me up to this. I was highly offended and told him so. I really thought that would be the end of my application, but when I concluded my course work at Cornell for my degree in December 1974 the Secret Service offered me a position as a special agent in the Washington DC Field Office on January 20, 1975. I was the 10th woman hired as a special agent in the then 110 year history of the organization.

What qualifications/background does one need to work for the Secret Service?

The Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency first established as a secret entity within the Department of the Treasury in 1865 for the sole purpose of suppressing the rampant counterfeiting of bank notes. In the post-Civil War environment, between 1/3-1/2 of the bank notes in circulation were counterfeit, threatening the stability of the economy. President Abraham Lincoln authorized the creation of the Secret Service on April 14, 1865, one of his last official acts. That evening he went to watch a play at Ford's Theater where he was mortally wounded by James Wilkes Booth. It wasn't until three presidents were assassinated (Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley) that Congress authorized physical protection for the president. This mission was given to the Secret Service and its first presidential "protectee" was Teddy Roosevelt.

Despite this new protection mandate, the Secret Service continued its criminal investigative mission. Over the last century and a half, Congress has given the Secret Service statutory authority to investigate criminal activity relative to bank fraud, access device fraud (credit/debit card), telecommunications fraud, and computer fraud.
Electronic crimes (e.g. cyber intrusions) represent the fastest growing area of criminal activity the Secret Service is addressing in the 21st century. Basically, any criminal activity impacting the financial payment systems of the U.S. economy, the Secret Service investigates.

The protection mission has also grown since 1901. In addition to the President, the Secret Service now has the statutory responsibility to protect the First Family, the Vice President and family, presidential candidates, and all visiting Heads of State and Heads of Government to visit the United States. The Secret Service is also responsible for the security of the White House complex and the Vice President's residence. And since 1998 the Secret Service has been responsible for the design and implementation of an operation security plan for National Special Security Events such as the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, the Democratic and Republican Conventions, the G-8 Economic Summit and Presidential Inaugurations.

The Secret Service has evolved into a dual mission agency over the last 141 years. Currently, the staffing level is at about 6500 employees. The largest group of employees is the special agents (approximately 3300). At minimum a college degree is required for the special agent position. The special agent population represents a very diverse group educationally. Many of the agents have law degrees, MBAs, Masters; a few have a PhD. These are the individuals who conduct the criminal investigations and are assigned to physical protection details such as the President, Vice President or foreign dignitaries. The Secret Service has over 100 field offices throughout the United States and the world (the foreign presence is growing because crime is transnational in nature, primarily due to the growth of the Internet). The training for a new special agent covers a 6 month period where you receive comprehensive training and education in the two core missions (criminal investigations and protection), physical fitness, defensive measures and firearms.

Like any modern law enforcement agency, our employees are not exclusively special agents. The Secret Service also employs intelligence and criminal research specialists; civil, mechanical and software engineers; chemists; biologists; behavioral psychologists; information technology specialists; physical security specialists, forensic scientists and fingerprint analysts. If you think of the spectrum of threats the Secret Service must protect against, and the laboratory analysis associated with the criminal investigative work, you can understand the necessity to have the technical and scientific expertise provided by the aforementioned positions.

What are some of your most memorable experiences?

During my 31 year career, I traveled to every continent but Antarctica and visited every state in the Union. I served with six different presidents (Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush-41, Clinton and Bush-43). I literally saw history in the making, so there are many memorable moments and experiences.

I often rode horses with President Reagan, both at Camp David and at his Rancho del Cielo, north of Santa Barbara, California. These rides provided a unique opportunity to interact one on one with the President, and engage in long conversations while riding side by side. He was a fabulous storyteller and jokester. He loved his horses and cherished the time he was able to take to ride.

While out riding one of my own horses, I had fallen and suffered a concussion. I was scheduled to travel to Japan and Korea with the President but could not because of this injury. After President Reagan returned from his trip, and once I returned to work, he called me upstairs to his private living room in the White House. He handed me a book entitled “The Principles of Horsemanship” and with a wink, laughingly suggested I read it before riding again.

In June 2005, after his death, I had the honor of accompanying his casket aboard Air Force One from California to Washington D.C. for his State Funeral. I will never forget the thousands of people lining Constitution Avenue as the casket was carried from the south side of the White House to the Capitol. All of the official events associated with his funeral were incredible and I had the opportunity to attend all of them.

In 1991 or 1992, I was in Japan with President Bush (41). While attending a State Dinner at the Japanese Prime Minister’s official residence, the President collapsed during the dinner and was unconscious. During this medical emergency, it was very interesting how the Japanese hosts and guests reacted. As we swung into action responding to the President, we gave instructions by hand signals for everyone to be seated. Amazingly, everyone complied and we were able to quietly revive and evacuate the President. I often thought afterwards that if that incident had happened in the United States, the reaction would have been one of chaos.

I could go on and on with anecdotal stories about:

• Close encounters with presidents in their birthday suits
• Attending a dinner with Mrs. Bush in Saudi Arabia and taking in all of the jewelry worn by the Saudi women (I now know who keeps Tiffany’s and Winston’s in business)
• Being stalked by Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega while on assignment in Panama, and living to tell the story
• Taking the test ride all around the country on the new Air Force One (Boeing 747) to test all the systems as it came off-line (before it was commissioned).
• Playing jokes on President Reagan and President Bush (41).
• Behind the scene tour of the Kremlin with the KGB
• Landing in Marine One on the lawns of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle
• Personal meetings with Pope John Paul II, Canadian Prime Minister, King Juan Carlos of Spain and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel.
  

These examples give you a pretty good idea of the adventures I experienced.

What was one of the most difficult or dangerous situations you were involved in?

September 11, 2001.

The Secret Service New York Field Office is its largest field operation, employing over 200 personnel. An additional 100 employees were in New York to plan, implement and staff the foreign dignitary details for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.

Once the first plane hit, we implemented emergency evacuation plans for our field office located in World Trade Center #7. All these individuals were in the process of being evacuated when the second plane hit. While the Secret Service law enforcement personnel assisted NYPD and NYFD evacuate the towers, the administrative staff and temporary personnel were escorted to safety. Secret Service Special Officer Craig Miller was killed while assisting in the evacuation of one of the towers. Later that day, the USSS New York Field Office was lost as World Trade Center #7 collapsed.

Thru monitoring radar and activating an open line with the FAA, the Secret Service was able to receive real time information about other hijacked aircraft. We were tracking two hijacked aircraft as they approached Washington, D.C. and our assumption was that the White House was a target. While the White House was evacuated, the Secret Service prepared to defend the facility.

Concurrently, the Secret Service was safely relocating all of its protectees (First Lady, VP et al). The President’s movements of that day are public record. Every impromptu stop involved a Secret Service field office coordinating with local, state, federal and military entities to secure motorcade routes and sites, with little advance notice.

Additionally, the Secret Service was instrumental in evacuating all presidential successors as enumerated by the 25th Amendment.

I was present in the Director’s Crisis Center located at USSS Headquarters as a member of the Director’s senior staff overseeing our activities nationwide.

These few paragraphs inadequately describe the activities-and the emotions-of the day. Everyone expected additional attacks. Our focus, however, was on our mission: the safety of those we protect and the safety of our employees. And this focus was intense.

Did I find that being a woman worked to your advantage?

Early in my career I had the opportunity to work undercover during criminal investigations. This worked to my advantage because there were so few woman special agents at the time; no one suspected my true identity.

When I was first assigned to President Reagan’s protective detail, I was one of only two women. He conducted himself on a first name basis with us, whereas with the men, he did not know all their individual names. Furthermore, because I rode horses with the President, I developed a close personal relationship with him.

When I first began working for the Secret Service in 1975, I was one of only ten women special agents. The Secret Service was created in 1865 and had employed only men as special agents until 1971. So you can imagine the glass ceilings we had to break to progress in our careers. Almost every assignment I had was a “first for a female special agent.”

How did your career progress the way it did. How did you continue to move up the ranks?

The Secret Service has two core missions: criminal investigations and protection. In order to be competitive for promotion it is important to get experience operationally in both areas. I did this by transferring to different assignments: the Washington Field Office, Intelligence Division, Presidential Protection Division, Los Angeles Field Office, New York Field Office, Office of the Director, Inspection Division etc.

When I entered the Secret Service I did not know where this career would take me, or that I would even stay an entire career. I just approached my work as a professional and worked very hard. Yes, I encountered sexual harassment, barriers and attitudes that believed women should not be law enforcement agents. There were some who did not believe women were capable, either physically or mentally, to do the job. I chose not to believe that. There were times I told myself: “I am a Cornell graduate, I know I am mentally and intellectually capable of doing anything I put my mind to.”

But I also encountered many individuals who acted as my mentor and gave me great opportunities. I would say mentorship was the greatest factor that allowed me to progress.
One example was my assignment to the Presidential Protection Division as a supervisor during the presidency of George Bush Sr. I was the first woman in the history of the organization to hold one of these positions in 1990-1992. As one of the supervisors, I was responsible for directing the security arrangements for the President, whether at the White House or traveling domestically or internationally. And it happened because the Assistant Director of Protective Operations gave me the opportunity to do it, against the recommendation of other senior leaders in the Secret Service. Their opposition was based on gender, not capability.

This assignment was pivotal to later career advancements because the Special Agent in Charge of the President’s Detail (the person I reported to) later became the Director. This individual later gave me the opportunity to enter executive ranks of the Secret Service.

The current Director was appointed by the President in January 2003. I was planning to retire, but he asked me to stay to help him with his transition and to help transition the Secret Service to the Department of Homeland Security. Since 1865 the Secret Service had been an agency within the Department of the Treasury, but was transferred to this new department in 2003. This represented a huge transition for all the agencies transferring to Homeland Security. I agreed to stay to help him and he appointed me as his Chief of Staff. In September 2004, the Secretary of Homeland Security appointed me as the Deputy Director, a position I held until my retirement on January 31, 2006.

What were some of the goofy aliases?

Although special agents work undercover during criminal investigations, it is not “deep cover” requiring false names or aliases. This type of cover would apply more to the work of agents for the FBI or CIA.

Will I prepare memoirs?

I have been approached by an English professor at Berkeley who would like to write my story. I am undecided.

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