Posted on Sep 27, 2019
Quentin Boustany
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Hello,
I am currently in the process of enlisting in the Army. I have 87 college credits, with a 2.5 GPA. I scored around a 130 on all my line scores on the ASVAB. I am solely focused on doing Army Intel. If I enlist I will choose 35L, counterintelligence. I certainly would rather be an intel officer, rather than lower enlisted. I have taken the LSAT and did very well. In the future I would like to apply to an intel agency with a law degree (paid for by the GI bill). Reading online about OML points, I’ve learned that GPA is extremely important in branch selection. I have already given my transcripts to my recruiter. If I transfer to a new school and enroll in ROTC will my GPA count against my OML if the university has a policy that the GPA does not transfer? If I choose the green to gold non-scholarship option and attend that university would my prior GPA count against my OML? How competitive is the intel branch for ROTC? If I graduate with above a 3.6 would I likely get it? Would enlisting and first and doing green to gold increase my likelihood of getting an intel branch? Would my prior MOS help me get intel branch? Is enlisting as e3 and just working up to warrant officer a better option? Again, I am solely focused on working in intel.
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SPC 35 F
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I have no idea how competitive ocs is however I’m doing ait in Fort Huachuca( home of the intel) and one squared away Sfc has been trying to go warrant for years and just now got accepted. Go officer now so you have to wait 10+ years to go warrant
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Quentin Boustany
Quentin Boustany
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Thank you so much for the advice! I’m looking into joining the reserves and doing SMP with the local colleges ROTC program.
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SPC 35 F
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Quentin Boustany you also will need to decide your specialty as 35A( what intel discipline you want).
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Quentin Boustany
Quentin Boustany
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SPC (Join to see) 35L - Counterintel
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MAJ Senior Signal Oc
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The Intel branch normally takes more than almost other branches. Part of the trade off is they need to over select sending many LTs to perform branch details with combat arms. As for transferring credits it can pay off. When I transferred my associate's to my four year school my GPA was set to zero. Now during my first year I was only able to take electives and ROTC ending the semester with a 3.92. Now I had a 3.92 with almost 100 credit behind it which worked out awesome for me. Just check with the next college you are applying to in order to see their policies.
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Quentin Boustany
Quentin Boustany
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Thank you so much for the reply! I am now looking into joining the reserves and doing the SMP program with a local college.
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MAJ Senior Signal Oc
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Quentin Boustany that is the route I took in 2000. Good luck and the hard work pays off in the end.
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SPC Henry Francis
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I don’t know about the recruitment path or options but I know a little about GPAs. They generally are cumulative... or were when I was in school. I spent some of my GI-Bill at a Community college after leaving the Army (Vietnam Era -1970s (combat MOS 11B2P but no combat)). I had no clue about GPAs. When I left there I had a 0.9 GPA. I would just stop going to a class if it did not interest me... big mistake! A few years later my wife and I moved back home to Texas and I applied to what was Southwest Texas State University at that time. My tests were good enough for them to accept me but because of my GPA from SCC in NC I was put on scholastic probation and had to take a mandatory psychology class, “Effective Learning”. That was the absolute best class ever. My GPA on 44 hours of work at SWTSU was 3.93. (Turns out there is a science to learning and techniques to maximize a GPA... which are of much more importance to those of us who must study hard to learn things). Because of my success (thanks to that psych class) I was invited into the Chemistry Honors program.

My point here is that you should not be discouraged by your GPA. Identify the class where you are that teaches effective learning and take it. The science and tools WILL get you up to where you need to be. Learn that, use it and you will reach your goal.
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Quentin Boustany
Quentin Boustany
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I had a similar problem. I found the classes to be easy and uninteresting and so just wouldn’t go. I regret it, but am looking forward.
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MAJ Hugh Blanchard
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I enlisted as a 98G after the ASVAB indicated I had an affinity for languages. After four years I left service to return to college to earn a degree and a commission. When I filled out my branch request before college graduation I chose Infantry, Armor and Combat Engineers. The response I received from MILPERCEN was "The Army spent a lot of money on your training and getting you your TS/SI/etc. clearances. You're going back into MI." So, in my case, the needs of the service were to get me back into SIGINT and Electronic Warfare where I had served as an enlisted soldier and NCO. The needs of the service are paramount, but the Army is paying a lot more attention to "Talent Management", that is, to try to match personnel better to their aptitudes and aspirations.
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1SG Rebekah Lair
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You can't enlist as a 35L, it's a reclass only MOS.
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SSG Senior Desk Sergeant / Operations Sergeant
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Warrant all the way. Gain leadership experience and then go Warrant
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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I'll try to send you more also when I get some more time, just stuff I'd figured you also might not have run across before, and/or might find of use and/or interest, obv.....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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http://www.mors.org

You might find this group of interest, I didn't know if you had any STEM inclinations, however, ops research is frequently overlooked in that regard, the journal this group has is really quite good....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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You can't just focus on one svc...I realize the tendency to want to, however, you're best off researching all of them thoroughly, I assure you, honest....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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https://news.usni.org/2018/06/13/navy-implements-warrant-officer-1-rank-for-cyber-specialists

This just started awhile ago, I'm quite sure it has Intel overtones, I only send it as you'd listed warrant, I realize your said Army intel, I'd just figured you might care to look at it, that's all, honest....
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