Ex-Secret Service agent on the challenge of guarding first families: Spread the service very thin

Ok.So there’s keeping regular people safe and there’s guarding presidents. Michael Matranga, a Secret Service guy, told me all about it.

He’s from the tiny state of Texas.Where?“Texas City, Texas, right along the Texas Gulf Coast.

My dream was to be a United States Secret Service agent,” he said.“I applied to the Houston field office.

My family has served in many parts of the government from military to law enforcement.“I went to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, which is known for its criminal justice program.Now, age 47, I didn’t think I’d go back and get my master’s, but I do have aspirations to seek a higher office, maybe US Senate or Congress.”Oh, so you’re gonna be a thief.

Is that it?“Admittedly the current political landscape is a little less than desirable,” he said.“I went to work as an adult probation officer, supervising 1,200 felons.

Protecting America’s president I thought was a noble cause.You learn even jackets can be worn open so you can utilize tools — handcuffs, baton, flashlight, weapon.”There may have been a few issues with Secret Service recently.“Understand, screwing up is just human nature.

Important thing is to identify those mistakes and correct them,” Matranga said.“Everyone at some point makes a mistake on the job.

Secret Service operates at an extraordinarily fast pace.Covering more protectees than they were designed to cover.

Areas that should have been covered were not.“In the past, the service never covered more than 36 protectees.Now, they designate protection for cabinet members and extended families that were never designed for us to do.

It spread the service very thin.Not enough resources to disseminate those resources.”So how does he prepare?“On a presidential job you have to check their travel schedule, what the current political landscape looks like,” he said.

“We had the Gulf War, the initial push into Iraq and Afghanistan.Different tactics, techniques...