The US Secret Service is making its Special Agents learn how to drive stick

The US Secret Service is training its Special Agents to drive stick.

Being tasked with protecting the President of the United States is a big job that carries a lot of duties and responsibilities.

But up until recently, knowing how to drive stick wasn’t a requirement.

Now, instructors at a Maryland training center have been tasked with getting the agents up to speed.

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If there’s one car topic that divides Americans from the rest of the world, it’s the matter of manual gearbox cars.

To put it succinctly, stick shifts are something of a dying breed in the States, as most drivers opt for an automatic.

Even when Americans try and embrace manual driving, Europeans are quick to poke fun at them.

But the writing may be on the wall already – even a BMW executive has admitted that manual gearboxes are nearing the end.

In fact, they’ve become such a rarity in some parts of the US that finding one is seen as a big deal, like the 2025 Toyota Tacoma or this Volkswagen GTI sitting in a Montana dealership.

So with all of this additional context, it makes sense why the Secret Service learning how to drive stick would make headlines.

Whilst most cars in the States will be automatic, it never hurts to know how to drive different types of vehicles.

Instructors at James J. Rowley Training Center (RTC) in Maryland will be training the Special Agents in manual driving.

General Motors has delivered truck loads of cars to the RTC, with a Cadillac CT4 and CT5 included in the line up.

Others car include two C8 Corvettes, a Cadillac Escalade, a Chevy Colorado, a Chevy Tahoe, and a Chevy Suburban.

“Not everyone is able to operate a manual shift,” RTC driving instructor Mark Armstrong told The Auto Wire.

“Having that platform here will enable us to give instruction on how to drive manual vehicles for overseas trips.

“Experience with different types of vehicles can help instructors teach students how to adapt their driving techniques based on the vehicle they are operating.

“Because each vehicle handles differently in any given situation, exposure to new cars will challenge instructors and give them an opportunity to develop more realistic training scenarios.”

When on assignment, most agents will be driving SUVs like the Escalade, Tahoe, or Suburban.

The motorcade of the US President can contain up to 40 vehicles – including ‘The Beast’ – so it makes sense for all agents to be adept with different types of cars.

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