Congratulations to Department of State Employee Benjamin Sides for Being Named a 2021 Employee of the Year by CAREERS and the disABLED Magazine

Office of the Spokesperson

The Department is pleased to announce that Mr. Benjamin (Ben) Sides, a Supervisory Special Agent in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, has been named by CAREERS and the disABLED Magazine a 2021 Employee of the Year for his professional and advocacy efforts on behalf of people with disabilities in the workplace and in the community.

Mr. Sides became disabled after losing his right leg above the knee after being struck by a truck in Antananarivo, Madagascar in November 2003, while on duty as the Embassy Regional Security Officer (RSO).  After hospitalizations, rehabilitation, and months of physical therapy with a prosthetic leg, Mr. Sides wanted to continue as a Special Agent and was able to maintain his career and resume special agent duties.

Career accomplishments for Mr. Sides include three RSO tours, an assignment as the Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office, and a key player in the Department’s largest domestic relocation – the successful move of hundreds of employees and over $100 million in equipment from the Interim Training Facility in West Virginia 200 miles to the Department’s Foreign Affairs Security Training Center in Blackstone, Virginia.