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Il est officier depuis dix ans.

Il est officier depuis dix ans.
He has been an officer for ten years.
From Lesson 434:Professions and nationalities (il est / c'est un)·French

Questions & Answers about Il est officier depuis dix ans.

Why is there no word for 'a' or 'an' before officier?
When stating someone's profession using il est or elle est, French drops the indefinite article (un or une). The profession acts almost like an adjective describing the subject. However, if you add a descriptive adjective to the profession, you must switch to c'est and include the article, as in c'est un bon officier (he is a good officer).
Why is the present tense est translated as 'has been'?
In French, if an action or state started in the past and continues into the present, you use the present tense with depuis. English uses the present perfect tense for this. The French sentence translates literally to 'He is an officer since ten years.'
How do I know if depuis translates to 'for' or 'since' in this sentence?
It depends on the time expression that follows it. Because dix ans is a duration of time, depuis translates to 'for'. If it were followed by a specific starting point in time, such as a date or year like depuis 2014, it would translate to 'since'.
Does officier just mean a standard police officer?
Not exactly. Un officier usually refers to a military officer or someone with a higher rank in the police or fire departments, such as a lieutenant or captain. To talk about a regular, beat police officer, you would normally use un policier or un agent de police.

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