What is it like to be a military intelligence officer?
It's great :) I could tell you how great, but then...Actually, I get asked that question a lot, even within the military. Some people imagine it's like James Bond, in reality it's a job - just a different job.Military Intelligence when it all comes down to it is about saving lives. Part of the U.S. Army Intelligence Creed is "performing the first task of an Army - to find know, and never lose the enemy." This is done so we know what we need to do to eliminate threats and protect our Soldiers. Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of that.Some intelligence officers, like me, are "all-source" which as the name implies means that we use everything at our disposal to answer those questions. We are the "big picture" people. Some become specialized in a particular intelligence disciplines, so signals intelligence (SIGINT) officers for example specialize in intelligence collection and analysis of signals (e.g. radio, etc.)The jobs run a gamut at all levels. As an all-source officer I was the only intelligence officer for a logistics battalion that sent trucks on the road in Iraq, by far the most rewarding job of my career. I also worked at a joint assignment at a much higher level. All-source intelligence is one of the rare jobs in the military where you can be assigned to almost any unit.Like any job it's not all roses. There's an administrative component as well, specifically security clearances. One of the main responsibilities for S-2 (intelligence) sections in garrison is processing security clearances, which if that sounds mundane, it's because it is. Also, all intelligence officers have TOP SECRET security clearances, which means your life is looked at every five years. Finally, almost all intelligence personnel (officer and enlisted) are taught they're the top 2% of the military, so you're constantly dealing with people that think they're smarter than they are.It is a very highly rewarding career, and I wouldn't trade it for anything the military has to offer. That said, many times it's not very sexy, and all the time it's far from what you see in the movies. But if the idea of saving lives, and like using your brain, I'd highly recommend it.
What's the Daily life of a Military Intelligence Officer?
In a meeting or getting ready for a meeting Heck sometimes you'll find yourself in a meeting to plan a meeting Which is 90% the life of a Staff Officer And MI Officers are by and large career staff officers
What is it like being a U.S. Army intelligence officer?
A lot depends on what level unit you are assigned to, and whether you are ‘in-garrison,’ or ‘deployed’ for exercise or real-world. At Battalion level, you will be mostly concerned with ensuring the Battalion commander is as fully aware of what the enemy is up to, in what strength and in what locations as is possible, as well as maintaining Intelligence situational awareness of the scenario of the units to your left, right, and rear, to include higher-level command as well (Brigade, in this case). The point is to make sure the commander is NEVER caught ‘flat-footed’ because of some ‘surprise.’ This means you will be closely concerned with reconnaissance of all kinds, to include drones, and requesting higher echelons for additional coverage as well. This is how an MI officer maintains credibility with the commander, and that credibility is the most precious thing any Intelligence officer can have. Not sure if the same is true today, but back in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, MOST of the actual Intelligence work was done by enlisted personnel (officers mostly attended to administrative issues), and a well-trained and experienced Intelligence Sergeant will probably know a lot more about the local situation and scenario than just about anyone else, and will also be responsible for the training and skills of your Intel team as a whole. These people are the ‘gems’ that can either make you look like a star, or make you look like a complete fool in front of the commander, depending on whether or not that NCO is ‘hot’ or not.But Battalion is just one of the different levels you may end up at, and the levels of responsibility and influence rises considerably as you work your way up the chain. Eventually, you may find yourself at Theater-level doing daily Intelligence briefings for the Supreme Allied Commander, or even working for DIA at the Pentagon, and at each step of the way, you will find an NCO or NCO’s that will ‘show you the ropes,’ and will either make you, or break you, depending on the quality of their ‘skill-sets.’In sum, ‘being a U.S. Army Intelligence officer’ can mean a WHOLE lot of different things, depending on where and what you may be responsible for.
What is it like to be a military intelligence officer in the US Armed Forces?
I spent 4 years and 2 months as an army intelligence officer. I then spent a year in DC at a national level intelligence agency as a contractor, followed by 4 years of teaching intelligence operations to young Soldiers for the Army. I spent a total of 21 months in Iraq as a 2LT/1LT and as a CPT. It is nice to be an intelligence officer. There are many reasons why. There are also some drawbacks. Here is a quick list:Pros (in no order):We get top secret clearances, most officers just get secret.We have the highest enlisted soldier aptitude test requirements for all branches and therefore have some of the brightest soldiers.Intelligence jobs often require significant cerebral thinking. If you replace the word intelligence with information, than that would also be a good description. We deal with gathering, synthesizing, and generalizing information to provide support for decision makers of all kinds.Post-military contracting positions pay well and opportunities to work for cool places like the CIA/NSA/NGA/FBI are plentiful. I have been making over 6 figures since I was in my mid-20s working a straight 40 hr week in jobs I will be proud to tell my grandkids about.We often do "safer" jobs so risks while deployed are not on the same levels as say, my cousin (infantry), who came home with a purple heart.Cons (in no order):Army intelligence is an upside down pyramid for officers. There are less leadership roles available for young intelligence officer with is starkly contrasted with combat arms officers who nearly all get significant leadership training (I was one of the few who got to be a platoon leader).Little access to cool training. I wanted to go to airborne school. I was denied. I wanted to go to selection, I was denied. I wanted to go to ranger school. I was denied. My infantry officer friends? They HAD to get airborne wings and a ranger tab if they ever wanted a company command so it was automatic you attend both.Holding so many secrets can be stressful on your personal life as you can't ever "talk about your day" with your spouse or friends. Often times agency folks outright lie to their spouses about what they do so they don't lose opportunities to do clandestine work later on.
How much does a Navy Intelligence Officer make?
I have my bachelors degree in civil engineering and was thinking of joining the navy. I want to become a Naval Intelligence Officer. What is their base salary? I am not sure how this stuff works. What is daily life like for a naval intelligence officer. What are the benefits? How about personal life? I know you may serve months out at seas, but how will that conflict with finding a woman in your life? Basically, I want to know everything about being a naval intelligence officer and if you would be able to find a job in the private intelligence sector afterward?
Is Ground Intelligence Officer a boring MOS?
Are you currently in a commissioning program? If not, your focus should be getting into that and then you should worry about your MOS. To answer your question though... You will be a scout sniper platoon leader and it's far from boring baby, trust me.
What is the basic day for a military intelligence officer?
Every intelligence job is different. As an Intelligence Analyst in the Military your roles, capability, and tasks will be vastly different to another. They’re focused on who the Military are operating against!Intelligence Analysts Arrive At Work Before Anyone Elseit’s important Intelligence Analysts get into the office early. Our job is to know information first, so we early to get a jump on any overnight reporting.“A good Intelligence Analyst will be one of first people in the office every morning.”2. A quick scan of the email inbox then onto the overnight reporting.3. Open Source Reporting. I like to read the open-source news and skim major newspaper websites to get an understanding of any issues or incidents which have occurred overnight.Tip: I set ‘Google Alerts’ for my key-words, topics or particular reporting of interest. I have these automatically divert to a sub-folder in my email inbox.4. 0915hrs: Second Coffee.Read the rest of this article titled; Write, Brief & Think: A Day In The Life Of An Intelligence Analyst at Intelligence101.Ben.
Which branch of the military is easiest to become intelligence officer?
I am wanting to become an intelligence officer and I am not picky on which branch I join to attain this goal. Unfortunately, I don't have the best credentials to become an intel officer. I have my undergrad in disaster sciences and criminal justice and my masters in public administration. But, I really want to be an intelligence officer. What branch of the military (Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard) is more likely to pick up someone like me as an intelligence officer? Thanks for any help.
What was your experience like as a US Army M.I. Officer?
I was a reserve M.I. officer, after I was prior enlisted M.I. The thing you need to keep in mind about MI is that it is a "low density MOS." That means you're almost always going to be working with a bunch of people who don't understand what you do. You will also need to take extraordinary measure to keep yourself trained and s ready. MI is very difficult to "practice" outside of theater (or OBC) because it requires a lot of information to analyze into intelligence. When I was in, there were what were called REDTRAIN funds available for MI soldiers to head to DIA and take some pretty cool classes to keep their skills up. That's essentially because, as I said, if you're the MI officer at an infantry BN or (like me) Civil Affairs BN, they are not sure how to train you, or in some cases, even use you. That said, when I was in Iraq with Civil Affairs, I wound up building the first ever Civil Information Management system-- essentially a non-kinetic information reporting system, so we could centralize everybody's reports about village engagements and city council meetings, and analyze them for patters so we could tell the commanders what the most pressing civil issues were in each area (e.g. crime, water, electricity, jobs, etc.). It was very challenging, interesting and rewarding.