Does enlisting with a college degree in 35M (Reserve/NG) and then attempting OCS, increase the chances of being selected as reserve MI 35A?

John Marder — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 18:45:12 -0400

I was advised by my recruiter to pursue this option. However, I want a second opinion. My intention is to work in the Military Intelligence Corps in the reserves/NG, ideally as an Officer. I have already spent two years in Officer Training with RMA Sandhurst in the UK (It did not count as military service). I understand that Intel is highly competitive at OCS and I am unwilling to risk being put into a non-intel branch at this time, so enlisting appears to be the most guaranteed route for acquiring a TS security clearance and Intel Field experience. Given my BA degree in Economics and International Relations (Most courses focused on counter-terrorism, military Intelligence and Strategy) with a GPA of 3.5, would the route recommended above be advisable?

P.S, I have also looked into 35L, but I recognize this is not an entry level job. Assuming I enlisted in 35M, completed the AIT (and DLI, if it is in my contract) and came in at E4, what is the procedure for reclassing to 35L and what would I be able to do to improve my chances? I find it hard to believe that 35M units would be willing to let soldiers reclass immediately after AIT.

If you have read this far, I appreciate it and will be very grateful for any responses even if it is to say 'that is a horrible idea'.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 12 at 2021 6:47 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 18:47:14 -0400

No. As of right now, you need to compete for your branch if you're going active duty. You'll need to find a position in the Reserve or Guard to commission as an Intel officer as a guarantee

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Apr 12 at 2021 7:54 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 19:54:41 -0400

Are you a US citizen?

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Apr 12 at 2021 9:13 PM

SSgt Christophe Murphy — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 21:13:31 -0400

If you aren’t a US citizen you will have a difficult road going intel and/or pursuing a TS clearance.

As for enlisted vs officer go the route you want but know that you will have to compete for a slot for intel officer regardless of being prior enlisted intel. It’s not a guarantee. Intel is highly sought after

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 12 at 2021 11:06 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 23:06:33 -0400

No. You're commissioning into the NG, you simply commission into an MI slot. NG is slot driven based on what's available to you within the range you're willing to drive.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2021 12:00 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 00:00:16 -0400

Go to OCS, and make MI your top choice. If it doesn’t work out then branch transfer once you hit O-3 and go to MI CCC. Zero guarantees Bro, you get what you earn at OCS...and then the Army still gets a say. Zero IN and AV slots to my class...next class got plenty of IN and AV.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2021 12:19 AM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 00:19:20 -0400

You only compete for your branch in OCS if you’re active duty. Those who commission as NG/Reserves are slotted before basic training depending on the unit you are in. If you’re unit has MI then you’ll easily get your MI slot. You’ll “enlist” as an 09S when you go through basic and then you’ll go to OCS, where you’ll already be branched, and then attend your branch specific BOLC. If you enlist as anything other than 09S, you won’t go to OCS and you’ll have to wait to drop a packet later on in your career.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2021 1:47 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 01:47:54 -0400

You cannot commission as an officer or receive any clearance beyond a Limited Access Authorization until you are a US Citizen, so if your plan was building up your CV during your waiting period, this will not work.

You can enlist in a non-sensitive field, which will gain you time against any age limit you may be worried about running up against, but being enlisted can present its own impediments to the possibility of gaining a security clearance and becoming an officer. Shite rolls down hill, and "squaddies" that have been unlucky enough to get caught in the path can find themselves ineligible due to records of discipline.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2021 12:49 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 12:49:25 -0400

Obviously the citizenship thing has to be met.

I literally did enlist 35F and tried for the path you lay out. It didn't really work. I'm a Quartermaster.

Things to note and some already mentioned:
1) US citizen

2) If you go active duty you are in competition for the MI branch (presuming there are vacancies at the time of your class graduation).

3) If you strive for the Reserves you can basically choose your branch based on the openings. The unit that sees you through your commission you will give you the slot. So you can seek out an MI slot. Now, these are also "competitive" because there are only so many openings, but the worst will happen is you put MI as your choice and you get bumped out by stronger competition. The major difference is you can still say NO to whatever else might be offered to you. In Active OCS you commit to the army in general and compete after you are already committed. So ironically, a former CIA analyst who goes Active Duty OCS that is last in his class is not going to get MI (I'm just say'n).

4) ENLISTING into USAR MI does not actually help you get an MI officer slot later on. I tried it. What it gets you is a TS clearance that checks the CLEARANCE requirement for a commission. When I initially tried there were 12 MI vacancies at CPT and below in my state. I failed. The second time around I counted the vacancies. There were over 200 QM vacancies in my state. BOOM. I was selected. Now... a peer soldier in my MI unit was selected for MI commission. But they were both 35M and 35L and spoke Russian. I was a 35F with an MBA.

**************
Here's where career strategy comes in:

I'm pretty certain I can go back to MI in the USAR next fiscal year. Oh irony............... See, from the outside MI is cool, awesome and sexy. So LT's are falling over themselves for it. After they have served their initial obligation they realize well, the Army is the Army where ever you are in the Army. So a good number of them simply walk away when they are new CPT's.

Meaning............. it's WAY WAY WAY easier to get into USAR MI as a CPT than from entry level 2LT.

Now, that said, I too am on the fence about it. There is a trajectory I'm now following that would require change of course, loss of inertia and have to get going again. Do I really want to do that? That's a whole other conversation.

****************
What is true regardless of your plan, is if you ENLIST!!!!!!!!!!! you will had YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!! to your officer timeline.

While I said I enlisted, I did so because of my age. Not as a strategy to become an MI officer. So my mentioned strategy to jump into USAR MI as a CPT still applies if you came in as an officer from another specializations, and it reduces your time line. Don't go thinking enlisting MI gives you a leg up on MI officer in the USAR. That is unless you are fluent in Chinese or Russian.

All you have to do to jump from one branch in the USAR to MI Officer as a CPT is be a responsible officer with respectable annual evaluations then approach an MI Battalion Commander and say you are interested in being a Company Commander of an RFX unit and they will make it happen. Then you're in MI as a CPT and carry as much seniority than where you just left since it's time in grade that matters, not time in MOS.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2021 2:38 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 14:38:53 -0400

Let's get this in the open. You have mentioned multiple times you are chasing a Clearance for the sake of employment opportunities. Not saying there is anything good or bad about that.

From where you are sitting right now, the amount of effort to jump through the hoops to finally achieve a TS clearance by means of the US Military is far more time and energy intensive than just figuring out how to go about getting that classified job you want and finally succeeding in landing employment.

For the irony is the military is not going to help as much as you think landing that classified job. Then at the end of it, if a USAR/NG you will be trapped with a military training schedule that sucks away all your time for what you originally only wanted (civilian employment).