More than just a student

By Jenna Nielsen
The Collegian

You won’t meet someone like him everyday. He’s been to 20 countries, protected classified information for the United States government and met influential political leaders. He’s done more in 26 years than most people have done in their lifetime.

Senior Todd Ricketts, a political science major with a minor in criminology, is in his last semester at Fresno State and early next year, he will begin working as special agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service. It is an elite program where agents work at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.

Ricketts knew he wanted to join the diplomatic security service when he served as a Marine Security Guard where diplomatic security agents were his immediate supervisors.

“One thing that really interested me in the program was not only the opportunity to travel, but the exposure to diplomacy,” Ricketts said.

After high school, Ricketts decided to join the Marine Corps because he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do in college.

“I wanted something different,” he said. “I knew eventually I would go to college, but I just wanted to make sure I had something to go for.”

From 1996 to 1999, Ricketts worked as an administrative clerk in Camp Pendleton, Ca. It was there he volunteered for the Marine Security Guard Program.

“Not many people know about the program, not even in the Marine Corps,” Ricketts said. The program is difficult to get into because a Marine has to be recommended and then a recruiting team comes for an interview, he said.

His first post in the program was in Vladivostok, Russia.

“It was the best year of my life,” he said. “It was my first time being overseas and my first time experiencing another culture.”

Ricketts said there were only 20 Americans at the consulate so he was really exposed to the culture of Russia.

An obstacle he faced was running into the Russian mafia on a regular basis. Once on the way home from a night out, Ricketts and some of his fellow guards were attacked by some members of the mafia.

“The experience was surreal,” he said. “One of my friends was shot and it took 21 surgeries and eight months for him to recover.” Ricketts said it was a very pivotal moment in his life and the shooting and legal proceedings that followed really affected him. “In a sense, I lost my naivete,” he said.

From January 2001 to September 2002, Ricketts served his second post in Brussels, Belgium. There, he handled internal security and the protection of classified information. He worked in what was called a tri-mission that included the U.S. Embassy, the U.S. Mission to the European Union and the U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“I basically fell in love with international travel,” Ricketts said. “And I gained an appreciation for international relations and wanted to be a part of the process. It was when I was working with diplomatic security that I realized what I wanted to do.”

In October 2002, Ricketts came back to California and started school at Fresno State in January 2003. He will have graduated in three years.

“I owe my success to the discipline and ambition I learned in the Marine Corp,” he said.

To gain a competitive edge, Ricketts just completed a summer internship for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security in Washington, D.C.

“My office was basically in charge of what we call high-threat protection.” He said. “We oversaw security contracts for Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Bosnia and Israel.”

While interning, he had an interview for the Diplomatic Security Service. An open announcement is placed for a week during which an applicant has to take an online assessment. If passed, applicants may be called back for an interview depending on how high their score was.

Out of those who were called back for an interview , Ricketts ranked 9 out of 458. Only 120 agents will be hired for the 2006 fiscal year .

“I knew I would be called back,” Ricketts said. “It was just a matter of when.”

Now he must pass a background investigation and a physical.

“I could be at any consulate or embassy in the world,” he said. “I really don’t know exactly where I want to go, but I will be happy anywhere.”