SGT Private RallyPoint Member 6713086 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>After speaking to my Commander, I&#39;ve been overwhelmed with career options lately so I wanted to get more opinions. <br /><br />I&#39;m 28yrs old and have been serving for roughly 2.7yrs. Just became an NCO last December.<br /><br />I love military intelligence and wish to do a job where I can be rewarded for learning about culture, history, foreign politics, and military capabilities. I&#39;ve been told to go intel warrant or become a civilian again.<br /><br />I have a bachelor&#39;s degree from an extremely expensive and tough university (Carnegie Mellon). However, I didn&#39;t do so well because I was young and stupid. I worked a corporate job in audience analysis in Hollywood for a few years, but had no direction in life so I enlisted because I wanted to guarantee MI. Currently pursuing a master&#39;s in data analytics.<br /><br />I am now an intelligence advisor in SFAB and I love it when I get to do country overviews and intel work, but I have MAJOR college debt (though great credit) so money is an important factor. <br /><br />To be honest, though I&#39;m good with academics, and I help the LTs with their homework, I&#39;m not much of a Soldier (hate the field!) though I love military history and strategy. <br /><br />What I wish to ask this community is, what career path offers a good balance of engaging intel work, good pay, and personal time? <br />I know you can&#39;t have it all, but looking for a decent balance. 2021-02-02T00:08:05-05:00 SGT Private RallyPoint Member 6713086

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>After speaking to my Commander, I&#39;ve been overwhelmed with career options lately so I wanted to get more opinions. <br /><br />I&#39;m 28yrs old and have been serving for roughly 2.7yrs. Just became an NCO last December.<br /><br />I love military intelligence and wish to do a job where I can be rewarded for learning about culture, history, foreign politics, and military capabilities. I&#39;ve been told to go intel warrant or become a civilian again.<br /><br />I have a bachelor&#39;s degree from an extremely expensive and tough university (Carnegie Mellon). However, I didn&#39;t do so well because I was young and stupid. I worked a corporate job in audience analysis in Hollywood for a few years, but had no direction in life so I enlisted because I wanted to guarantee MI. Currently pursuing a master&#39;s in data analytics.<br /><br />I am now an intelligence advisor in SFAB and I love it when I get to do country overviews and intel work, but I have MAJOR college debt (though great credit) so money is an important factor. <br /><br />To be honest, though I&#39;m good with academics, and I help the LTs with their homework, I&#39;m not much of a Soldier (hate the field!) though I love military history and strategy. <br /><br />What I wish to ask this community is, what career path offers a good balance of engaging intel work, good pay, and personal time? <br />I know you can&#39;t have it all, but looking for a decent balance.

2021-02-02T00:08:05-05:00 2021-02-02T00:08:05-05:00 LTC Private RallyPoint Member 6713090

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Warrant Officer is a great path with lots of opportunity, especially in the DC area for CI. Check it out

2021-02-02T00:10:26-05:00 2021-02-02T00:10:26-05:00 GySgt Gary Cordeiro 6713091

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Warrant

2021-02-02T00:10:31-05:00 2021-02-02T00:10:31-05:00 Capt Jeff S. 6713106

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Specifically what kind of Intelligence did you want to do? If you are bi-lingual and a good briefer, you might want to look into a job in DIA or CIA if the field is not your forte. I would think your hours would be a lot more regular than if you were with a deploying military unit.<br /><br />If you want to stay in, put in for Warrant Officer as <a class="dark-link bold-link" role="profile-hover" data-qtip-container="body" data-id="1692419" data-source-page-controller="question_response_contents" href="/profiles/1692419-sgt-gary-cordeiro">GySgt Gary Cordeiro</a> mentioned but you may find yourself in the field running a section. I&#39;m 20 years removed from retirement so you may want to get advice from someone in your branch, a little closer to the action.

2021-02-02T00:17:51-05:00 2021-02-02T00:17:51-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 6713118

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>If you commission there is no guarantee you would end up in the MI branch. Your previous MOS doesn&#39;t affect where you are branched. If you want to stay MI you&#39;ll have to become a Warrant if you want to be an officer.

2021-02-02T00:23:18-05:00 2021-02-02T00:23:18-05:00 CPT Private RallyPoint Member 6713164

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Intel is not equal in all areas, having been a 35F such as yourself you know that your intel job in the military could be anything from compiling the weekly weather forecast slide pushed down from the USAF to creating the a high value target package. It can be a crap shoot in the military what you get tasked with when down range. <br /><br />There are various intel agencies and the Military&#39;s intel arm is focus on battle field intelligence. Yes, I know we do some cool things with the War on Terror, but push comes to shove, big wars with big bullets the Army&#39;s Intel collection value and focus is the battle field for the use of planning military operations. <br /><br />What I am saying is, you mentioned you liked giving a County Overview. Well, you&#39;re only a 35F E5. <br /><br />What if you were giving such a country overview as a DIA/CIA analyst instead. <br /><br />Find a career intel mentor. Go warrant, position yourself for the intel projects that interest you the most and keep those feelers open for a jump to the civilian side of the intel community, because at the end of the day that 35F in the SCIF is still getting the coffee for the agency analyst.

2021-02-02T01:43:14-05:00 2021-02-02T01:43:14-05:00 MSgt Steven Holt, NRP, CCEMT-P 6713193

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>If the AF would have kept the Warrants, that&#39;s the path I would have chosen. I would have rather stayed on the operations and &quot;technician&quot; track as opposed to supervisor/manager of SNCO or commissioned officer.

2021-02-02T01:57:57-05:00 2021-02-02T01:57:57-05:00 LTC Private RallyPoint Member 6713534

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I&#39;ve never been Intel, but I have been a Government Civilian. Being a Civilian is fantastic, if you love your job you can do it forever. If you don&#39;t like your job you can find a new one right away.

2021-02-02T07:31:48-05:00 2021-02-02T07:31:48-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 6713748

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>If you don&#39;t want to be in the field, become a civilian again. Even as a warrant you&#39;ll be in the field depending on the unit.

2021-02-02T09:07:26-05:00 2021-02-02T09:07:26-05:00 LTC Private RallyPoint Member 6713779

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>It depends on the individual’s goals. If you don’t mind the risk of finding yourself in a branch other than MI and you want to lead soldiers and take responsibility for training/equipping/UCMJ/decision-making/morale/etc. of soldiers and their families, then you should apply to a commissioning program. If it’s very important to stay in the MI branch, you love your hands-on job, and are very good at your technical job you should go Warrant.

2021-02-02T09:17:56-05:00 2021-02-02T09:17:56-05:00 SFC Casey O'Mally 6714966

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>You probably won&#39;t like my answer, because I am going to answer your question with a question, but.....<br /><br />If you admit that you are not much of a Soldier, why the hell are you considering remaining in the Army?

2021-02-02T17:24:35-05:00 2021-02-02T17:24:35-05:00 MAJ Ken Landgren 6715416

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Have you ever done a decision matrix?

2021-02-02T19:57:58-05:00 2021-02-02T19:57:58-05:00 MAJ Private RallyPoint Member 6716699

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I encourage all good NCOs (which abound) thinking about going warrant to do it. Do it! The warrant officer corps is amazing and full of extremely talented people. I put it this way - most all the benefits of being a regular officer, without all the officer drawbacks. Plus you&#39;ll get more experience and training along the way, should you change your mind and get out before retirement. It is a bit of a commitment, so I would see how it might fit into your 5 or 10 year plans.

2021-02-03T09:47:59-05:00 2021-02-03T09:47:59-05:00 1LT Private RallyPoint Member 6716732

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Can&#39;t speak for WO, but for an officer, there is no guarantee that you will get the branch you want. You may have a 35 series MOS and a BS that correlates to it, but at OCS if you don&#39;t assess high enough, you may not get your first choice, or they might decide they need someone of your caliber (good, bad or indifferent) in the Adjutant General branch. From what I hear, there also aren&#39;t that many MI LT slots, so even if you find yourself getting MI, you may get &quot;Branch Detailed&quot; to another MOS (I&#39;ve usually seen a combat arms MOS like IN, AR, FA or CM)

2021-02-03T10:02:03-05:00 2021-02-03T10:02:03-05:00 Lt Col Jim Coe 6717685

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Your comments would lead me to believe you might be a great DoD or Service Civilian Employee. Civilian Employees fill many of the same MOS as active duty and reserve component personnel in CONUS and overseas. There are many advantages to being a civil servant.<br />-No up or out. If you want, you can spend your entire civilian career of 20 to 40 years doing the same or closely related jobs. If you love doing MI work, then you can do it for as long as you want. If you do it well, even a little above average, you may be promoted and offered bonuses. Opportunities for promotion are normally good. You may have to start at an entry level pay grade, such as GS9, but you will have an opportunity to apply for higher grade jobs after a year or so of experience. (I have a friend who retired from USAF Intel as an E-7 and went immediately into civil service intel. He retired at age 66 as an SES-2 (2-star equivalent).)<br />-Good retirement. The rules may change over time, but the civil service retirement program is a bit of a sacred cow. Politicians tend not to mess with it because the government employee unions are very strong. If you put in 20 or more years of civil service, you may be able to retire early, before age 62, with a nice retirement check monthly. Retirement is calculated based on how long you serve. Lots of other rules.<br />-Good benefit plans: civil service benefit plans for health care, dental, vision, and long term care are competitive with civilian industry. Civilians also have a TSP with good matching.<br />-Opportunity for Education, Training, and Advancement: Civil servants have a training program that runs roughly parallel to military leadership and professional training. Plus there are many specialized training courses available based on your MOS. You may get tuition assistance. There are special programs (very competitive) leading to advanced degrees at no cost in some areas.<br />-Strong Support for Reserve Component: Civil Servants who choose to be part of the Reserve or Guard get strong support. Special military duty hours are allocated to each employee so they can do their one weekend a month and two weeks a year with full civil service and military pay. Additionally, military leave is available for those mobilized.<br />-One-stop Job Search: USAJobs.gov is your portal to information on civil service and to find jobs.

2021-02-03T17:42:37-05:00 2021-02-03T17:42:37-05:00 MAJ Ken Landgren 6725459

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Did you want me to discuss the decision matrix?

2021-02-06T15:58:10-05:00 2021-02-06T15:58:10-05:00 1LT Private RallyPoint Member 6730200

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Go to OCS. From everyone I have seen commission, your OML is #1, but it seems that boards take civilian &amp; mil experience over other&#39;s preferences. So if you put in the work, you have a good chance of branching MI. MI also has a lot of potential for branch detail (essentially being in CHEM or another undesirable branch for 3-4 years and then reclassing.)

2021-02-08T14:50:21-05:00 2021-02-08T14:50:21-05:00 CW4 Alex DeLorey 6764979

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I went MI warrant after serving as an MI NCO for six years. I retired after 23.5 years as CW4. I had a BS and MA and opted for the warrant officer route because I loved what I did and wanted to advance beyond NCO. When I retired from the Army, my background and expertise were well suited to launch into a second career with the Fed Govt. I went to State Department as a foreign service officer, civilian equivalent grade wise of an O-6. but wished I had stayed DOD civilian frankly. If you love MI and want to go officer, go the warrant route. Then focus on taking care of your people as you learned as an NCO, represent the warrant corps to your best ability, and constantly develop your skills in your specific MI specialty. Learn to love the field! This is the Army and its upon all of us to take on that aspect. I did 50 percent strategic and 50 percent field--my best assignment was with 7th SFG(A). Good people good mission. Good luck! I havent met a warrant officer who ever regreted their decision; not to say that person doesn&#39;t exist of course. Lastly look for a mid to senior warrant officer who can mentor you.

2021-02-21T10:47:22-05:00 2021-02-21T10:47:22-05:00 1LT Private RallyPoint Member 6886175

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I want to offer another perspective for you. Why not further your civilian and military career at the same time?<br /><br />Have you considered doing traditional OCS and working as a civilian in the intel field? I was able to commission through state OCS and worked as a government worker at the same time. I was a prior-enlisted 19D and branched MI. The traditional OCS has always been known as the worst way to commission by many since it takes up to 18 months and it eats into your personal life. But I find it rewarding in the end while advancing both my military and civilian career. <br /><br />I get to spend time with my family as a civilian and be a part-time Officer in the Army. I will be honest with you, I love the balance between being a civilian and in the Army.

2021-04-08T09:33:59-04:00 2021-04-08T09:33:59-04:00 LTC Stephen Preston 6925222

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>SGT Abhik B. - My career may inform your decision. I enlisted as an interrogator and Russian linguist. After three years, I was in much the same position as you. In my case, I only had three years of college. I chose Green-to-Gold, because I wanted a degree. Upon commissioning, I became a Field Artillery officer with the option to transition to MI as a CPT. After three years in FA, I made the transition and went on to have a great MI career as a CI officer and later strategic HUMINT officer. There is a whole world of MI in INSCOM and DIA that is very different if you are a CPT - COL, that is not available to you as a Warrant Officer, in particular service as a Defense or Army Attache. Either path is an honorable one. In my opinion, you should always shoot as high as your talent will take you. I&#39;ve known a few WO and NCO&#39;s who could have reached higher, but didn&#39;t. They were the most difficult soldiers to lead. Good luck with your career. If you would like to talk, let me know and I will arrange to do so off line.

2021-04-24T11:46:21-04:00 2021-04-24T11:46:21-04:00 2021-02-02T00:08:05-05:00