How can I Prepare for a Career As a Border Patrol Agent?
While being a Customs and Border Protection (CPB) border patrol agent can be one of the most thankless and grueling of jobs, it is also one of the most crucial to the safety of the United States. Its mission may have evolved since its inception in 1924, but today, its primary mission continues to be to prevent people from entering the country illegally. Since terrorism has become more of a threat, the CBP’s priority is to keep terrorists or weapons that can be used by terrorists from crossing the border. Border patrol agents also try to prevent people from smuggling illegal contraband, such as drugs, over the border. Border patrol agents have a daunting job: to patrol and guard approximately 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers) of land borders and 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) of borders on the coast. Today, there are approximately 11,000 border patrol agents who patrol the canyons, mountains, deserts and beaches of the US, in the southern heat and the northern cold. They patrol by helicopt
