Does anyone on here know anything about the US Dept of State Diplomatic Courier Service?

Question

I went to their website and looked at the job description and requirements for employment but I was wondering if someone knows anymore details about this job? Is it a good job? Do you know anyone who works for them?

Answer 1

Diplomatic Couriers are based in three places: Washington DC, Frankfurt, Germany, and Bangkok, Thailand. They accompany diplomatic pouches (from a briefcase size up to several airplane pallet sizes), and keep them secure throughout the journey. They are last on, and first off the plane.

In addition to characteristics such as dependability and so forth, you should also like flying - a lot. Thus, it would be good if you can deal with time changes well, and enjoy reading books. You'll need to be healthy too so you don't develop deep vein thrombosis.

The people are interesting - well traveled, but it takes a certain kind of person to do it well.

Answer 2

I have known many couriers.  But I don't know what you mean by "Is it a good job."  If you mean is it easy, does it have regular hours, is it predictable, the answer is, Absolutely not.  The hours are anytime, the travel is constant, the vigilance is constant, and there can be very interesting times convincing hard-headed customs officers that they will NOT touch the bag.  That said, of course, most airport officials are very familiar with courier procedures and know the rules as well as the couriers do.

Couriers are the cowboys of the diplomatic service.  You get to go to places no one you know has ever heard of, even if you'll only stay overnight.  You are called on to exercise all possible ingenuity to get your job done.  And you are expected to value the diplomatic bag before your own life.

It's not a good job, maybe, but it's a great job.  I presume you have seen this:

http://www.state.gov/m/ds/career/c8857.h...