Was Phillip Sheppard from survivor season 22 Redemption Island really a special agent for the federal government?

Answer 1

He was a Special Agent with the former DIS (Defense Investigative Service) under the DoD (Dept of Defense) which is now the DSS (Defense Security Service) for 3 years from 1986-1989 (concurrent with the last 3 years of his active duty service).

The DSS is NOT a Federal law enforcement organization and does not have police powers. The DSS Special Agent (1811) position IS a sworn Federal law enforcement officer, however, those agents generally conduct background investigations for employees in the DoD/military. The DIS/DSS is not to be confused with the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) in the State Dept, which does employ gun-toting/arrest-making Special Agents.

On the reunion episode of Survivor's Season 22 - Jeff Probst invited a current federal agent named Diane Hardy who went through training with Phillip and cleared up any misconceptions viewers had about Phillip Sheppard. They also showed a picture of Phillip from the 1980's in his military uniform.