Posted: 2/11/2026 4:15:53 PM EDT
[Last Edit: HuntFishGunCar][Edited]
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I’m 40 and have 11 years of AD time as a USAF enlisted and officer. I want a federal job to buy my time back as I am now a reservist with 6 years to my 20. My wife has roughly the same time as me in the USAF and is three years younger. Veterans preference should allow me to get in after 40. I have a clearance as well. Assuming this should but won’t accelerate the hiring process. State and local police don’t have FERS. So the CBP pay has a much better longer term pay off and is an outdoors job. I wanted to become a game warden but the pay is very poor and there is less say in your assignment or region. Plus it’s state. I like being outside and I’m tired of sitting at a desk in the SCIF. If I go into FERS, I’m set for retirement by the time I hit 50. I’m from Texas and have a house and land in one of the regions available. How is life work balance? We have kids. My wife is interested as well. Do they keep married couples together if they both serve in the CBP? |
| I cannot answer your question directly but id assume BP will move you where they want you. Anyway, lots of fed jobs in TX you maybe able to slide into. I know the uniform police(0083 series) of all military branches are always hiring and they're FERS IF you are looking for LE. However I suspect your maybe find something better within the feds. |
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US Marshals Service / DEA / HSI / OSI/ FBI - in that order. CBP, ICE, is going to TDY your ass all over. When the next admin comes in, they are going to slash the workforce and you might not be vested by then. I've been on all sorts of task forces in my travels,was a TFO with some, seriously Marshals is the best gig. The Marshals go grab the bad guy, that's what they do. Hell, when they arrest someone, they take just the body, no prisoner's property, it's beautiful. |
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That sounds cool but I’m too old for the Marshall’s or anything 1811. I applied when I was young enough to the SA series for Secret Service, FBI, and CIA but never got called up on USA jobs. Thinking about getting my LEO cert on my own time and just becoming a reserve LEO for my small town. I’m qualified for up to GS/GG-14 in the 0301 and 2210 jobs. I’m just tired of sitting around. My whole 20s was blue collar. I’m used to being outside. Maybe I can try and get one of the Federal Police jobs you mention after getting certified and having local Reserve Police experience? |
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Originally Posted By HuntFishGunCar: That sounds cool but I’m too old for the Marshall’s or anything 1811. I applied when I was young enough to the SA series for Secret Service, FBI, and CIA but never got called up on USA jobs. Thinking about getting my LEO cert on my own time and just becoming a reserve LEO for my small town. I’m qualified for up to GS/GG-14 in the 0301 and 2210 jobs. I’m just tired of sitting around. My whole 20s was blue collar. I’m used to being outside. Maybe I can try and get one of the Federal Police jobs you mention after getting certified and having local Reserve Police experience? The 0083 jobs will send you to their respective academies. No need to be certified but maybe it cant hurt. They’re always hiring and your vet preference will help get you to the interview. Most of them will start you out as a GS 6/7, 8 if lucky. After retiring from city LE, i went to work for the Army as a uniformed officer on a tiny base. They made me attend the 10 week academy in MO. All branches I believe have their own though i heard the Marines were sending folks to the Army’s academy but I’m not sure. |
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Retired from BP, FERS was phased out several years ago, and you would need to do 20 in BP to retire from them anyway. You could still get in at 40 and do your 20 but the retirement is all TSP now. Not sure if you already have been enrolling in that, I imagine it would roll over, but not sure. As for the outdoors. There is a lot of that, but there is also a lot of processing! It just depends on the traffic flow for where ever you are stationed. Im sure some active BPA's will be a long to add. To get more specifics and more update hit up the recruiters they will fill you in and promise miles of desert terrain just to sucker you into a processing center somewhere I am sure. (kidding, but it could happen!) Also a lot of Law Enforcement join BP and find it boring sometimes, There have been years where when immigration is working the way its supposed too and the economy sucks the illegals stay home and that makes for long boring days. Other times you processing thousands a day, that just turn themselves in because the politics and ecomony swung the other way. It pays good! Good luck with whichever you decide. |
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You can get age waivers with BP. We have guys showing up that are prior military and in their 50's. No clue how, but just had a brand new agent that was 52. With BP you'll have to be somewhere on the border. Moving around is a lot easier now than it was when I first came in. The union has it set up where seniority gets damn near everything they want, so you have to do your time. Career wise, the money is great and retirement is pretty good. I have 19 years and made 210k last year. Only worked about 20 hours of true overtime. Most new guys are hitting 100k by their 4th year on. We have TSP for our 401k which you probably already have. Will be eligible to retire in 4 years. Will probably stay another 10 though unless the political game gets too rough. Home wise, it all depends where you choose to work. Some stations are great and some just plain suck. I've commuted pretty much 70 miles one way my whole career, which is an hour of driving each way. Shift is a 10 hour shift and you can get an hour off to go workout. The academy is a lot easier now than in the past. Judging from the new guys we are getting, its pretty hard to fail. We don't get sent anywhere unless we volunteer for it. There have been a handful of guys mandated to go to Min, Memphis, NO, Portland - but they can't be there longer than 28 days and then the next junior guy has to go unless someone volunteers. As far as your wife, if you don't get placed together, you can put in for a compassionate transfer and you'll get reassigned. If you are both BP, you may not be stationed together, but within the same sector/area - depends on openings at that station. |
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Originally Posted By JynXD: Retired from BP, FERS was phased out several years ago, and you would need to do 20 in BP to retire from them anyway. You could still get in at 40 and do your 20 but the retirement is all TSP now. Not sure if you already have been enrolling in that, I imagine it would roll over, but not sure. As for the outdoors. There is a lot of that, but there is also a lot of processing! It just depends on the traffic flow for where ever you are stationed. Im sure some active BPA's will be a long to add. To get more specifics and more update hit up the recruiters they will fill you in and promise miles of desert terrain just to sucker you into a processing center somewhere I am sure. (kidding, but it could happen!) Also a lot of Law Enforcement join BP and find it boring sometimes, There have been years where when immigration is working the way its supposed too and the economy sucks the illegals stay home and that makes for long boring days. Other times you processing thousands a day, that just turn themselves in because the politics and ecomony swung the other way. It pays good! Good luck with whichever you decide. BP is still FERS. Also, at 40 or 41 you might not even be the oldest in your class. |
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Originally Posted By JynXD: Retired from BP, FERS was phased out several years ago, and you would need to do 20 in BP to retire from them anyway. You could still get in at 40 and do your 20 but the retirement is all TSP now. Not sure if you already have been enrolling in that, I imagine it would roll over, but not sure. Uhm, no... Everyone is still on FERS. Everyone is still in TSP with up to 5% matching. Been that way since 1987, hasnt changed. For the past couple years, the budget crunchers kept talking about going to a system that dropped the FERS pension, and increased the TSP matching to something like 8-10%... but that never went anywhere. |
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In my agency when (DEA) you get hired and got transferred to your permanent station, your federal agent spouse went with you and when you wanted to transfer elsewhere, they would take both of you. They don’t leave people behind, but that’s also old school and I don’t know how it works in the agency that you want to be a part of because that wasn’t mine but yes being able to buy back your active duty time in the military is huge. And if you do it get on it quick because the interest adds up if you fuck around with it. Do it as soon as possible and it will pay you back. Best of luck in your decision. And as a veteran you can get age wavers with us as well. Shit, my classmate who is one of my best friends who was our recruiter is thinking about coming back on the job herself and dropping down from a GS 14 to a 13 position but yeah if you want in there are opportunities right now. But just make sure you buy back that active duty time. That’s priceless. |
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Originally Posted By cone256: If you expect an age waiver then you need to go HSI. I don't think CBP falls under that directive and DOJ doesn't offer age waivers. Don't expect to onboard for 6+ months DEA, which is under DOJ, does or at least did as of a year or two ago. We were waiving the age 37 rule for veterans. I retired this time last year, so I don’t know if that’s still current, but it was pretty fresh when I left and still being offered. |
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Originally Posted By JynXD: Retired from BP, FERS was phased out several years ago, and you would need to do 20 in BP to retire from them anyway. You could still get in at 40 and do your 20 but the retirement is all TSP now. Not sure if you already have been enrolling in that, I imagine it would roll over, but not sure. As for the outdoors. There is a lot of that, but there is also a lot of processing! It just depends on the traffic flow for where ever you are stationed. Im sure some active BPA's will be a long to add. To get more specifics and more update hit up the recruiters they will fill you in and promise miles of desert terrain just to sucker you into a processing center somewhere I am sure. (kidding, but it could happen!) Also a lot of Law Enforcement join BP and find it boring sometimes, There have been years where when immigration is working the way its supposed too and the economy sucks the illegals stay home and that makes for long boring days. Other times you processing thousands a day, that just turn themselves in because the politics and ecomony swung the other way. It pays good! Good luck with whichever you decide. Where did you come up with this? FERS is still very much a thing. They did, however over the past several years update the program to make employees pay more into it than what it was when I get hired on in 1998 but yes, FERS is still the retirement system. |
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Originally Posted By HuntFishGunCar: That’s great to hear. I have an application working with an 1811 agency. When a DEA announcement is made I will apply. @huntfishguncar If you apply at DEA just be ready for a somewhat drawn out hiring process. I was hired in 98 and it took almost 3 years for me from the day I dropped my application until I got the call from headquarters offering me the job. It’s gotten better now and last I heard it about 18 months on average but just be ready for that. A lot of that is your top-secret clearance, but last I heard guys in the Academy are going there with interim clearances pending final approval. Not sure how that compares with other agencies though. |
| Congrats on the retirement. I’m at the cusp with over 32. If I told you now, BP trainees are being offered tons of northern bound duty stations, and Florida. Yes you heard me right I just saw a new hires choice list from this morning. Florida was on there for a fucking nugget to choose. It was Marathon, but still Florida. If I would’ve told you that 10 or 15 years ago, you would’ve bet your paycheck I was lying. |
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Originally Posted By txice: Congrats on the retirement. I’m at the cusp with over 32. If I told you now, BP trainees are being offered tons of northern bound duty stations, and Florida. Yes you heard me right I just saw a new hires choice list from this morning. Florida was on there for a fucking nugget to choose. It was Marathon, but still Florida. If I would’ve told you that 10 or 15 years ago, you would’ve bet your paycheck I was lying. Honestly the Florida openings are a trap, unless they already have a house there. No one on GS7 pay can afford to live anywhere nice. They're offering them because senior agents stopped applying because they don't want to take an effective pay cut. |
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Originally Posted By HuntFishGunCar: That sounds cool but I’m too old for the Marshall’s or anything 1811. I applied when I was young enough to the SA series for Secret Service, FBI, and CIA but never got called up on USA jobs. To old to apply or to old to do the job? |