Security Technical Specialists (STS) are Foreign Service Specialists who maintain and repair a wide variety of technical security systems and equipment aimed at protecting State Department personnel, information and facilities.
STSs support worldwide DSS technical security programs. These programs protect State Department facilities and personnel from espionage, acts of terrorism, and crime through the use of sophisticated electronic and electro-mechanical security systems.
As members of the Foreign Service, STSs spend a large part of their careers abroad. While overseas, they may spend as much as 50 percent of their time traveling regionally to conduct engineering surveys and security inspections, install equipment, and provide electronic maintenance.
STSs are responsible for:
- Conducting corrective and preventative maintenance;
- Testing technical security systems;
- Repairing defective technical security system equipment; and
- Assisting Security Engineering Officers (SEOs) with surveys, system specifications, and installations.
After new STSs complete several months of specialized training, they are assigned to a team led by an experienced SEO in any of 38 DSS engineering service centers around the world, in Washington, D.C., or in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
